Does My Employer Have To Pay Me for Travel Time?

 Posted on September 27, 2026 in Wage & Hour Violations

Sometimes employers have to pay for travel time. Whether you should be paid for yours depends on what kind of travel you’re doing for your job. If you spend hours behind the wheel for your employer and never see it on your check, your sense that something is wrong is probably correct. The rules for travel pay confuse a lot of good employers too, so unpaid travel time is not always intentional. However, it is still money you earned.

Our Cumberland, MD wage and hour violation attorneys can look at your schedule and tell you which hours should be paid on the clock in 2026. Attorney Omar V. Melehy has dedicated his career to representing employees in disputes with their employers, including wage and hour and discrimination cases against both private sector and federal government employers.

Why Isn't My Daily Commute Paid Under Employment Law?

Under the Portal-to-Portal Act, found at 29 U.S.C. § 254, ordinary travel to and from work, before your workday starts and after it ends, is not paid time.

This holds even when your job site changes. For example, a carpenter who drives 40 minutes to a different address each Monday is still commuting in the eyes of the law. 

Driving a company-owned vehicle does not automatically make your commute paid work time. If driving the employer's truck home is voluntary, the vehicle is the kind normally used for commuting, and the sites are within the normal commuting area, the commute is unpaid.

What Kinds of Work Travel Time Must Be Paid in Maryland?

Federal regulations spell out the situations where travel counts as hours worked:

• Travel between job sites after you arrive at your first assignment of the day

• Travel to a required meeting, training, or errand during the workday

• A special one-day trip to another city for your employer, though the company may subtract your usual commute time

• Overnight travel that falls during your normal working hours, including the same hours on a Saturday or Sunday

• Any time you actually perform work while traveling, such as taking calls or completing paperwork as a passenger

Overnight travel is another situation where travel time may be paid. When an employee travels away from home overnight, time spent traveling during their normal working hours is generally compensable, even on a day they do not normally work.

Does Travel Time Count Toward Overtime in Maryland?

Maryland Labor and Employment Article § 3-415 requires most employers to pay non-exempt workers at least one and a half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Paid travel time counts toward that 40-hour threshold just like any other work. If you spend 37 hours on-site and six hours in paid travel, you worked 43 hours, and three of them are overtime. An employer who leaves travel time off your timesheet is not just shorting you straight-time pay. It may also be erasing overtime you earned.

What Can You Recover if You Weren't Paid for Travel Time?

Under Maryland Labor and Employment Article § 3-507.2, you can recover unpaid wages. If the employer withheld them without a bona fide dispute, a court may award up to three times the unpaid amount plus attorney's fees. Federal law separately allows the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages. For the same unpaid wages, you may recover the enhanced damages available under Maryland law or federal law, but not both.

Federal claims carry a two-year deadline, or three years if the violation was willful. Claims for unpaid wages under Maryland law have a three-year filing deadline. Meanwhile, keep your own log of departure and arrival times and save any texts assigning you to sites.

Schedule a Free Case Evaluation With Our Silver Spring, MD Wage and Hour Violation Lawyers

At Melehy & Associates LLC, our employment lawyers in Maryland routinely litigate in federal and state courts, including jury and non-jury trials. We also litigate cases in administrative forums, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Attorney Melehy has extensive appellate experience in Maryland and the District of Columbia, which has resulted in many precedent-setting decisions.

Our Cumberland, MD employment law attorneys are tenacious in these cases and pursue maximum recovery rather than a quick settlement that leaves money behind. Call Melehy & Associates LLC at 301-587-6364 to find out what your unpaid travel hours are worth.

Se habla español.