PORTLAND, Maine — Flooring contractor Paul G. White Tile Co. was ordered to pay 42 employees a total of $52,000 in back pay for hours during which they were traveling to or from work sites.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division said Friday it found the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by requiring employees to report to its warehouse at the beginning and end of each work day but did not compensate them for travel time to and from work sites.
“This is a common wage violation in this industry but one that employers can prevent by educating themselves about the laws that apply to their businesses and adhering to them,” Daniel Cronin, the federal wage and hour division district director for northern New England, said in a news release.
Employers are not always required to reimburse workers for travel time. They are required to do so only in cases in which employees are required to report before or after at a meeting place to receive instructions, perform other work there or pick up tools for a given job.
In those cases, the DOL said, “the travel from the designated place to the workplace is part of the day’s work and must be counted as hours worked, regardless of contract, custom or practice.”