{ "schema": "amendsignal.record/1", "generated_on": "2026-11-04", "publisher": { "name": "AmendSignal", "url": "https://amendsignal.com/" }, "notice": "Coverage is limited, so a missing record does not mean nothing changed. General information, not legal advice. Check the official source. Please cite the record's url.", "change": { "id": 55, "url": "https://amendsignal.com/changes/wage-and-hour-division-says-field-engineers-client-scheduling-calls-and-some-drive-time-after-them/", "title": "Wage and Hour Division says pre-shift client scheduling calls can make a field engineer's drive to the first job paid work time", "change_type": "guidance", "change_type_label": "Opinion letter", "status": "guidance_issued", "status_label": "Issued as agency guidance", "status_statement": "As of our last check on November 2, 2026, this is agency guidance, not a rule. It explains how the agency reads the law and does not create a legal requirement on its own.", "significance": "No new requirements", "jurisdiction": { "code": "US", "name": "United States" }, "authority": { "name": "Wage and Hour Division", "short_name": "WHD" }, "identifiers": [ { "type": "opinion_letter_number", "label": "Opinion letter", "value": "FLSA2026-10" } ], "dates": [ { "type": "publication", "label": "Published", "value": "2026-07-22", "precision": "day" } ], "in_short": { "what_changed": "The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued an opinion letter on how the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) treats a field engineer's pre-shift pages, client scheduling calls and drive time in an employer-provided vehicle. It says receiving pages is unpaid, but scheduling calls are paid work. When those calls fill most of the hour before or during the drive, the drive to the first client site is paid too.", "whos_affected": "The letter answers one field service engineer's facts. It is most relevant to employers whose employees drive an employer-provided vehicle from home to client sites and must schedule appointments before or during that drive.", "what_to_do": "This letter creates no new legal requirement for employers. Employers with field staff who make required scheduling calls before or during their drive may want to review how that call time and the drive time that follows are recorded and paid." }, "summary": "In an opinion letter, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor reads the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to say that a field service engineer's time receiving job pages before work is not paid time. Time spent calling clients to schedule appointments is paid work, and on the facts described it can make the drive to the first client site paid as well. The letter answers one requester's facts and creates no new legal requirement.", "business_functions": { "state": "limited", "functions": [ { "slug": "human-resources", "name": "Human resources" }, { "slug": "payroll", "name": "Payroll" }, { "slug": "legal-and-compliance", "name": "Legal and compliance" }, { "slug": "operations", "name": "Operations" } ] }, "added_on": "2026-11-04", "updated_on": null, "updates_in_progress": null, "last_checked": "2026-11-02", "record_url": "https://amendsignal.com/changes/wage-and-hour-division-says-field-engineers-client-scheduling-calls-and-some-drive-time-after-them/record.json", "what_changed": [ { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "WHD says the brief time spent receiving job pages before the workday begins is not paid time. It treats that time as incidental to commuting in an employer-provided vehicle under the Employee Commuting Flexibility Act (ECFA).", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section A", "excerpt": "the minimal time it takes to receive each page before your workday begins is not compensable hours worked because it is incidental to your commute in an employer-provided vehicle" } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "WHD says time spent calling clients to schedule appointments, including scheduling other field service engineers, is paid work time. It treats these calls as integral and indispensable to the engineer's main work of installing and servicing equipment.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Introduction", "excerpt": "time spent calling clients to schedule appointments and scheduling other field service engineers is compensable hours worked as it is not incidental to your commute, but rather integral and indispensable to your principal work activities" } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "In the first scenario, the engineer spends most of the hour before leaving home on required client calls. WHD says the drive to the first client site that follows is paid time, because it happens during the workday and is not an ordinary commute.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section B", "excerpt": "Under this set of facts, we conclude that your travel time to the first client location would be compensable." }, { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section B", "excerpt": "it constitutes compensable worktime because it both occurs during the workday and is not an ordinary commute." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "In the second scenario, the engineer makes the calls while driving. WHD says the workday starts with the first client call. Driving before that call is an unpaid ordinary commute, and the rest of the drive to the first client site is paid.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section C", "excerpt": "the beginning of your travel time (from 6:00 a.m. until at least 7:00 a.m.) is ordinary home-to-work travel and not compensable." }, { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section C", "excerpt": "Your workday commences when you begin calling clients to schedule their appointments, and the rest of your travel time from your first client call until you arrive at your first client location is compensable." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "WHD says that when an employee starts commuting before doing any work, an employer practice of paying pre-shift travel time only beyond the first hour is generally acceptable.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section C", "excerpt": "when you begin your commute before performing any work activities for the day, your employer’s practice of compensating pre-shift travel time only in excess of one hour is acceptable." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "The letter says an ordinary home-to-work or work-to-home commute that happens during the workday is an exception to the rule that time during the workday is paid.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES, section B", "excerpt": "As the Division now clarifies, an ordinary home-to-work or work-to-home commute that takes place during the workday constitutes a third exception to compensability during the continuous workday." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "Where at-home work time is hard to measure, WHD notes that an employer and employee may be able to enter a reasonable agreement on compensation under 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 785.23.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section B", "excerpt": "the employer and employee may be permitted to enter into a “reasonable agreement . . . which takes into consideration all of the pertinent facts” to ensure sufficient compensation for the hours worked." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "The letter says it is an official interpretation that may be relied on under section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Closing", "excerpt": "This interpretation may be relied upon in accordance with section 10 of the Portal Act" } ] } ], "who_is_affected": [ { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "The requester is a field service engineer who installs and services magnetic resonance imaging systems at client sites and drives an employer-provided vehicle.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "BACKGROUND", "excerpt": "you are employed as a field service engineer and are responsible for the installation and servicing of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems." }, { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "BACKGROUND", "excerpt": "The vehicle you drive is provided by your employer and is a sports utility vehicle customarily used for commuting." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "The opinion rests only on the facts the requester described, and other facts could lead to a different conclusion.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Note following signature", "excerpt": "This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request" } ] }, { "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "text": "Employers whose employees drive employer-provided vehicles from home to several client sites a day, and who must handle scheduling before or during the drive, are the most likely to find this reasoning relevant to their own practices.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section A", "excerpt": "Receiving assignments remotely is a minor consequence of driving an employer-provided vehicle to and from home." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "WHD distinguishes employees who must do some administrative work at home but have a long window to do it. For them, the drives remain ordinary commutes.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section B", "excerpt": "many employees who travel from site to site during the workday are required to complete some administrative work at home beforehand or afterwards, but have a long window of time in which to do so." }, { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section B", "excerpt": "For such employees, the home-to-work and work-to-home drives remain ordinary commutes" } ] } ], "business_implications": [ { "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "text": "Under WHD's reading, required client scheduling calls made right before or during the drive can start the workday. That can turn drive time that an employer treats as unpaid commuting into hours worked, which can affect minimum wage and overtime totals.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section C", "excerpt": "These activities are therefore compensable, and your workday begins when you perform such activities." } ] }, { "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "text": "A policy of not paying the first hour of pre-shift travel may not hold for days when the employee does required work, such as client calls, before or during that hour.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section C", "excerpt": "when you begin your commute before performing any work activities for the day, your employer’s practice of compensating pre-shift travel time only in excess of one hour is acceptable." } ] }, { "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "text": "The outcome depends heavily on the facts. WHD says the drive may be an unpaid ordinary commute if the workday regularly differs from the scenario it reviewed.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section B", "excerpt": "To the extent that your workday regularly differs from this scenario, your drive may instead be a non-compensable ordinary commute, depending on all the circumstances." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "WHD's conclusion on pages assumes the vehicle travel is within the normal commuting area and that vehicle use is under an agreement with the employer.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Footnote 4", "excerpt": "This analysis assumes that the remaining criteria for ECFA have been met, i.e., that your travel is within the normal commuting area for your employer’s establishment and that your use of the vehicle is pursuant to an agreement with your employer." } ] } ], "required_actions": [ { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "Under the FLSA, covered employers must pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime of at least one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. The letter describes this existing duty; it does not create it.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES, section A", "excerpt": "The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime of at least one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "Under the FLSA and its regulations, as the letter describes them, an employer must pay for all work it knows or has reason to know is being performed, including work done at the employee's home.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES, section A", "excerpt": "An employer must pay for all work that it knows or has reason to know is being performed, including work performed off-site (e.g., at the employee’s home)." } ] }, { "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "text": "Under 29 CFR 785.41, which the letter quotes, any work an employee is required to perform while traveling must be counted as hours worked.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES, section E", "excerpt": "Any work which an employee is required to perform while traveling must, of course, be counted as hours worked" } ] } ], "recommended_actions": [ { "kind": "recommendation", "kind_label": "Our suggestion", "text": "Consider reviewing whether field employees who drive employer-provided vehicles make required client or scheduling calls before or during their drive, and whether that call time is recorded and paid.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section A", "excerpt": "Accordingly, your time spent calling clients to schedule appointments, including scheduling other engineers, is compensable hours worked." } ] }, { "kind": "recommendation", "kind_label": "Our suggestion", "text": "Consider checking any policy that leaves the first hour of pre-shift travel unpaid, so that it applies only on days when the employee does no work before or during that hour.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section C", "excerpt": "when you begin your commute before performing any work activities for the day, your employer’s practice of compensating pre-shift travel time only in excess of one hour is acceptable." } ] }, { "kind": "recommendation", "kind_label": "Our suggestion", "text": "Consider whether required at-home tasks must be done immediately before or after the drive, or can be done within a long window, since WHD treats these situations differently.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section B", "excerpt": "many employees who travel from site to site during the workday are required to complete some administrative work at home beforehand or afterwards, but have a long window of time in which to do so." } ] }, { "kind": "recommendation", "kind_label": "Our suggestion", "text": "Where at-home work time varies a lot from day to day, consider whether a written reasonable agreement under 29 CFR 785.23 would help make sure the time is paid.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section B", "excerpt": "the employer and employee may be permitted to enter into a “reasonable agreement . . . which takes into consideration all of the pertinent facts” to ensure sufficient compensation for the hours worked." } ] }, { "kind": "recommendation", "kind_label": "Our suggestion", "text": "Consider confirming that employer vehicle programs are limited to the normal commuting area and covered by an agreement with employees, since the ECFA analysis in the letter assumes both.", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Footnote 4", "excerpt": "This analysis assumes that the remaining criteria for ECFA have been met, i.e., that your travel is within the normal commuting area for your employer’s establishment and that your use of the vehicle is pursuant to an agreement with your employer." } ] } ], "required_actions_assessment": null, "applicability": [ { "criterion": "where", "label": "Where", "answer": "United States, nationwide", "kind": "fact", "kind_label": "From the source", "evidence": [] }, { "criterion": "employer_type", "label": "Employers", "answer": "Employers covered by the FLSA, especially those that give field employees a vehicle to drive from home to client sites.", "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES, section A", "excerpt": "The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked" }, { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "BACKGROUND", "excerpt": "The vehicle you drive is provided by your employer and is a sports utility vehicle customarily used for commuting." } ] }, { "criterion": "size", "label": "Size", "answer": "The letter sets no size threshold; it speaks of employers covered by the FLSA.", "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES, section A", "excerpt": "The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked" } ] }, { "criterion": "industries", "label": "Industries", "answer": "Any industry with field staff; most relevant to equipment installation and repair work at client sites, such as servicing medical imaging systems at hospitals.", "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "BACKGROUND", "excerpt": "Rather, you perform these services at clients’ locations—hospitals or imaging sites." } ] }, { "criterion": "functions", "label": "Functions", "answer": "Payroll and timekeeping, HR, legal and compliance, and operations teams that dispatch field staff.", "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section A", "excerpt": "These activities are required by, and primarily benefit, your employer; therefore, they constitute work." } ] }, { "criterion": "applies_if", "label": "Applies if", "answer": "Your employees drive a company vehicle from home to client sites and must spend much of the time right before or during that drive on client or scheduling calls.", "kind": "inference", "kind_label": "Our analysis", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "OPINION, section C", "excerpt": "Your remaining travel time is compensable because calling clients is your first principal activity of the day and you must perform that activity throughout your travel." } ] }, { "criterion": "action", "label": "Action", "answer": "Review how pre-shift call time and the drive that follows are tracked and paid.", "kind": "recommendation", "kind_label": "Our suggestion", "evidence": [ { "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf", "locator": "Opinion, section C", "excerpt": "Your workday commences when you begin calling clients to schedule their appointments, and the rest of your travel time from your first client call until you arrive at your first client location is compensable." } ] } ], "open_questions": [ { "question": "How much time on calls during the drive is enough to make the whole drive after the first call paid time?", "context": "WHD says it does not consider whether a smaller amount of call time while driving would change its conclusion." }, { "question": "Does paying a fixed shift plus overtime for travel beyond an hour cover all hours worked in this situation?", "context": "WHD says it does not consider whether the employer's current pay practices are enough, because that would require more facts." }, { "question": "Is receiving pages still unpaid time if the vehicle is used outside the normal commuting area or without an agreement on its use?", "context": "The letter's conclusion on pages assumes both conditions are met and does not address what happens if they are not." } ], "events": [ { "event_type": "originating_action", "label": "Issued", "occurred_on": "2026-07-22", "summary": "FLSA2026-10: Whether time spent by an employee receiving pages, calling clients and other workers to schedule appointments, and driving from home to the first client appointment is worktime that an employer must record and pay for under the FLSA.", "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf" } ], "corrections": [], "sources": [ { "label": "Whether time spent by an employee receiving pages, calling clients and other workers to schedule appointments, and driving from home to the first client appointment is worktime that an employer must record and pay for under the FLSA.", "publisher": "Wage and Hour Division", "role": "primary", "url": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf" } ] } }