Some of your employees may need to travel from one work site to another during their workday. Think about construction supervisors, service technicians or consultants who visit multiple sites in a day.
This travel adds challenges to your payroll operations. It brings up an important question: do you need to pay your employees for this travel time?
When travel time requires compensation
California law distinguishes between regular commuting and work-related travel. In general, you don’t need to pay employees for time spent traveling between their home and their first or last work location.
Below are examples of compensable travel time:
- Job site to job site: You must pay for travel time between different work locations during the workday
- Special one-day assignments: Travel to assignments outside normal commuting area requires payment
- Overnight travel: Aside from paying for travel during normal working hours, pay for overnight commutes and other work-related travel on non-working days
- Working while traveling: Any work performed during travel requires compensation
Take note that compensable travel time rules apply regardless of whether your employee drives or rides as a passenger.
Multi-location workdays require planning
When employees work at multiple sites, several considerations help you maintain compliance. Having a clear system will help keep everything smooth.
Identify each employee’s main work location in their employment documents. This helps you define what counts as a normal commute for different jobs in your company.
Set up a way to track the time spent traveling between job sites. You can use an application to do this automatically or have employees manually log their travel time.
Personal vehicle use compensation
State law requires you to reimburse necessary business expenses. Naturally, this includes travel costs for approved business or work-related travel.
The law applies not only to public transportation use but also to personal vehicle use. California releases official mileage reimbursement rates for personal vehicles each year. For 2025, the reimbursement rate per mile is around 72 cents.
What if you fail to compensate employees’ travel time?
Getting travel time payments wrong can cost your company a lot. Wage violations can lead to penalties, back pay requirements and even lawsuits.
Note that California allows employees to claim unpaid wages going back three years. Clear travel policies and transparent tracking systems will help protect your business while maintaining good relationships with your employees.