Many construction workers travel away from home to perform work for their employers. When this travel results in an overnight stay, this travel time must be paid. And, it must be counted as “hours worked” in determining entitlement to overtime in the workweek. Often, however, employers avoid or refuse to pay for such travel time.
Payment of “mileage” or providing a “per diem” for this travel is not enough. Employers must pay their employees an amount equal 1.5 time the construction workers’ hourly rate where, including travel time, the employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek.
If a traveling construction worker is not paid overtime for his or her overnight travel time, the worker may be able to file a lawsuit for unpaid overtime. In fact, if other employees are also not paid properly, the worker may be able to bring a collective or class action lawsuit.
Our firm has recovered millions of dollars of unpaid travel time for our construction worker clients. If this has happened to you, we can help.