If I drive the company truck to the jobsite then have to drive it back to the shop, can my employer dock me for the travel time back?

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If I drive the company truck to the jobsite then have to drive it back to the shop, can my employer dock me for the travel time back?

Asked on June 4, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Arkansas

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

If it was part of your employment or job that day to take the truck to the jobsite and then return it (that is, not only were you supposed to take it to the jobsite, but you were then expected to return it to the shop), then it is work time, and if you are an hourly employee, you must be paid for it. If you were not required to return it to the shop, but voluntarily chose to do so (e.g. for your own convenience) after your work was otherwise complete, then your employer may have grounds to not pay you for that time.

An oversimplified, but useful rule of thumb: if you do it for your employer's benefit or at their direction, it's work; if you do it for your own benefit, or of your own free will, it's not. Work time is paid; nonwork time is not.


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