{
    "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": 47,
        "url": "https://amendsignal.com/changes/wage-and-hour-division-says-voluntary-mid-day-commutes-between-home-and-office-are-not-paid-work/",
        "title": "Wage and Hour Division says a voluntary mid-day commute between home and office is not 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": "FLSA2026-9"
            }
        ],
        "dates": [
            {
                "type": "publication",
                "label": "Published",
                "value": "2026-07-22",
                "precision": "day"
            }
        ],
        "in_short": {
            "what_changed": "In an opinion letter, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor says an ordinary home-to-office commute in the middle of the workday is not hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it is voluntary and mainly benefits the employee. WHD calls this a third type of unpaid time during the workday, alongside bona fide meal breaks and off-duty time.",
            "whos_affected": "Employers covered by the FLSA that let non-exempt employees split a workday between home and the office. The letter answers one requester's specific facts, so how far it reaches depends on how closely your situation matches them.",
            "what_to_do": "This guidance creates no new duties for employers. The FLSA still requires paying for and recording all hours actually worked, including work done at home, but if you allow split days you may treat a voluntary, ordinary mid-day commute as unpaid time."
        },
        "summary": "In an opinion letter, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) says that an ordinary commute between home and the office in the middle of the workday is not hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as long as the commute is voluntary and mainly benefits the employee. The letter answers one employer's questions about letting non-exempt staff split a workday between home and office. It creates no new requirement, and the FLSA's existing rules on paying and recording all hours actually worked, including work done at home, still apply.",
        "business_functions": {
            "state": "limited",
            "functions": [
                {
                    "slug": "human-resources",
                    "name": "Human resources"
                },
                {
                    "slug": "payroll",
                    "name": "Payroll"
                },
                {
                    "slug": "legal-and-compliance",
                    "name": "Legal and compliance"
                }
            ]
        },
        "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-voluntary-mid-day-commutes-between-home-and-office-are-not-paid-work/record.json",
        "what_changed": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) says that mid-day travel between an employee's home and work office, offered as a voluntary alternative to an unpaid commute before or after the workday, is ordinary commuter travel and is not hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Introduction",
                        "excerpt": "As explained below, it is our opinion that such mid-day travel would qualify as “normal” or “ordinary” commuter travel, which is not hours worked under the FLSA."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says it is clarifying that an ordinary commute during the workday is a third category of unpaid time within the workday, in addition to bona fide meal breaks and off-duty time.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "we clarify that ordinary home-to-work travel that occurs during the workday constitutes a third category of time during the workday, in addition to bona fide meal breaks and off-duty time, that is not considered “hours worked” under the FLSA."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD concludes that the commute in all three of the requester's scenarios (a mid-day commute to avoid rush hour, a regular commute after voluntary early work at home, and a bus ride home before finishing work at home) need not be treated as paid work time.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "Because all three of the scenarios described in your letter fit that description, your client would not have to treat such commuter travel as compensable worktime."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says a mid-day commute does not have to shorten the employee's travel time to count as ordinary. It is enough that the timing is genuinely voluntary.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, A. Scenario 1",
                        "excerpt": "it is not necessary for a mid-day commute to reduce an employee’s commute time to be considered ordinary or normal. Instead, it suffices that the timing of such commuter travel is genuinely voluntary"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says its answer for the early-morning work scenario would be the same even if the extra work were mandatory, as long as the employee chose to do it at home rather than at the office.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, B. Scenario 2",
                        "excerpt": "The employee’s 8:00 am commute would still be “normal” if the earlier work was mandatory but the employee chose to perform it at home rather than at the office."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says there is no minimum length for an ordinary commute to be excluded from work time.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 25",
                        "excerpt": "However, to clarify, there is no minimum time requirement for an ordinary commute to be excludable from worktime."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says the letter does not depart from its positions that travel between worksites during the workday, and work done during a commute, are paid time, and that its analysis is limited to ordinary commuting between home and work.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, D. Additional Clarifications",
                        "excerpt": "nothing in this letter should be construed as a departure from the Department’s longstanding positions that (1) travel from worksite to worksite during the workday is compensable, and (2) if an employee is engaged in compensable work during a commute, time engaged in such tasks is compensable."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, D. Additional Clarifications",
                        "excerpt": "Second, the analysis and opinion in this letter is strictly limited to ordinary commuter travel between home and work."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The letter says it is an official interpretation that may be relied upon under section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act, even if it is later modified, rescinded or found invalid.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "This interpretation may be relied upon in accordance with section 10 of the Portal Act, notwithstanding that after any such act or omission in the course of such reliance, the interpretation is “modified or rescinded or is determined by judicial authority to be invalid or of no legal effect.”"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "who_is_affected": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The request came from a representative of an employer with a large non-exempt workforce in office roles, such as administrative support staff and bookkeeping clerks, who had not been allowed to work in more than one location in a single workday.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "You represent an employer with a large workforce of non-exempt employees"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "Non-exempt office-based employees, however, have not been permitted to work in more than one location (for example, home and office) in a single workday."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "The letter's reasoning is most relevant to employers covered by the FLSA that offer, or are considering, split home-and-office workdays for non-exempt employees. It is based only on the requester's facts, so different facts could lead to a different answer.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "We affirm here that extending such flexibility as a benefit to non-exempt employees does not require employers to pay for employees’ ordinary commutes simply because their commutes occur in the middle of the workday."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Note",
                        "excerpt": "This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "business_implications": [
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "Employers that kept non-exempt staff from splitting a day between home and office, out of concern that the mid-day commute would become paid time, may be able to offer that flexibility without paying for an ordinary commute.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "We conclude that any time employees spend traveling between their home and their primary worksite within a workday may be excluded from recorded worktime, as long as such travel is otherwise a “normal” or “ordinary” commute that primarily benefits the employee."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "The result depends on the commute being voluntary and mainly for the employee. Travel whose timing the employer dictates, and that significantly constrains the employee's time, may be paid work time.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, D. Additional Clarifications",
                        "excerpt": "there are circumstances under which travel between home and work will not be considered ordinary, including where the travel and the timing thereof are both dictated by the employer"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "Timekeeping still has to capture all work done at home, and depending on how an employer keeps records, it may need to note the length or timing of an unpaid mid-day commute.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 23",
                        "excerpt": "which, depending on an employer’s recordkeeping practices, could necessitate recording the length or timing of an excluded mid-day commute."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "Because the letter says it may be relied upon under section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act, employers acting in line with it may be able to point to that reliance even if the interpretation later changes.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "This interpretation may be relied upon in accordance with section 10 of the Portal Act"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "required_actions": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "Under the FLSA, as the letter describes, covered employers must pay at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. WHD says time spent at home doing additional work for the employer is paid hours worked.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, A. Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act",
                        "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."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 26",
                        "excerpt": "The time spent at home performing additional work for the employer, of course, constitutes compensable hours worked."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "Under the FLSA and its recordkeeping rule at 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 516.2(a)(7), as the letter describes, employers must keep an accurate record of hours worked each workday and each workweek, including hours worked at home.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 23",
                        "excerpt": "Of course, the employer must keep an accurate record of all “hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek,” 29 C.F.R. § 516.2(a)(7)"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 23",
                        "excerpt": "employers’ records must include all hours each employee actually works each day and each workweek, whether at the worksite or at home."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD reads the FLSA and its regulations to require counting travel between worksites during the workday, and any work done during a commute, as paid time.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, D. Additional Clarifications",
                        "excerpt": "nothing in this letter should be construed as a departure from the Department’s longstanding positions that (1) travel from worksite to worksite during the workday is compensable, and (2) if an employee is engaged in compensable work during a commute, time engaged in such tasks is compensable."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "recommended_actions": [
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider reviewing telework policies that bar non-exempt employees from working in more than one location in a day, in light of WHD's view that a voluntary, ordinary mid-day commute need not be paid.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "We affirm here that extending such flexibility as a benefit to non-exempt employees does not require employers to pay for employees’ ordinary commutes simply because their commutes occur in the middle of the workday."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "If you offer split days, consider making clear in policy that the timing of a mid-day commute is at the employee's option.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, A. Scenario 1",
                        "excerpt": "Rather, it is sufficient that the home-to-work or work-to-home travel be voluntary and primarily for the employee’s benefit."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider checking that timekeeping systems capture all work done at home and, where your records need it, the timing of an unpaid mid-day commute.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Footnote 23",
                        "excerpt": "which, depending on an employer’s recordkeeping practices, could necessitate recording the length or timing of an excluded mid-day commute."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider telling employees not to work during an unpaid commute, and paying for any work they do perform while traveling.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, D. Additional Clarifications",
                        "excerpt": "if an employee is engaged in compensable work during a commute, time engaged in such tasks is compensable."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider comparing your arrangements with the letter's facts, especially where the employer sets when employees travel, since the letter rests on the requester's facts.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Note",
                        "excerpt": "The existence of any other factual or historical background not contained in your letter might require a conclusion different from the one expressed herein."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "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 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) with non-exempt employees; the letter answers one employer's request.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "You represent an employer with a large workforce of non-exempt employees"
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, A. Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act",
                        "excerpt": "the FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "size",
                "label": "Size",
                "answer": "The letter sets no size threshold of its own; it speaks of FLSA-covered employers generally.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, A. Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act",
                        "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": "All industries, most relevant to employers with office-based non-exempt staff such as administrative and bookkeeping roles.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "Such employees include administrative support staff, bookkeeping clerks, and other similar corporate office-based positions."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "functions",
                "label": "Functions",
                "answer": "Payroll, HR and compliance teams that handle timekeeping and telework policies.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "that the employer and employees have appropriate timekeeping policies and practices to capture and record all worktime, regardless of the work location."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "applies_if",
                "label": "Applies if",
                "answer": "You let non-exempt employees travel between home and their primary worksite during the workday, and that travel is an ordinary commute that mainly benefits the employee.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "We conclude that any time employees spend traveling between their home and their primary worksite within a workday may be excluded from recorded worktime, as long as such travel is otherwise a “normal” or “ordinary” commute that primarily benefits the employee."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "action",
                "label": "Action",
                "answer": "Review split-day telework and timekeeping policies against the letter.",
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "We affirm here that extending such flexibility as a benefit to non-exempt employees does not require employers to pay for employees’ ordinary commutes simply because their commutes occur in the middle of the workday."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "open_questions": [
            {
                "question": "Does this opinion protect employers whose split-day arrangements differ from the requester's facts?",
                "context": "The letter says it is based only on the facts in the request and that other facts might lead to a different conclusion."
            },
            {
                "question": "When does a mid-day trip between home and work stop being an ordinary commute and become paid time?",
                "context": "The letter says it does not define the precise contours of such travel and points to Wage and Hour Division opinion letter FLSA2026-10, dated July 22, 2026."
            },
            {
                "question": "Do employers need to record the length or timing of an unpaid mid-day commute?",
                "context": "The letter says that, depending on an employer's recordkeeping practices, this could be necessary, and that the law requires no particular form of records."
            }
        ],
        "events": [
            {
                "event_type": "originating_action",
                "label": "Issued",
                "occurred_on": "2026-07-22",
                "summary": "FLSA2026-9: Whether mid-day travel between an employee's home and work office is worktime that an employer must record and pay for under the FLSA, where the employee performs work at both locations and the mid-day travel is offered as a voluntary alternative to unpaid commuter travel that would otherwise occur before or after the employee's workday.",
                "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf"
            }
        ],
        "corrections": [],
        "sources": [
            {
                "label": "Whether mid-day travel between an employee's home and work office is worktime that an employer must record and pay for under the FLSA, where the employee performs work at both locations and the mid-day travel is offered as a voluntary alternative to unpaid commuter travel that would otherwise occur before or after the employee's workday.",
                "publisher": "Wage and Hour Division",
                "role": "primary",
                "url": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-9.pdf"
            }
        ]
    }
}