KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Mid-day home-to-office travel can stay a non-compensable “ordinary” commute even during the continuous workday, provided it is voluntary, the employee is fully relieved of duties, and both locations maintain accurate timekeeping.

• The DOL recognized ordinary commuting as a third category of non-compensable workday time, alongside bona fide meal breaks and off-duty time.

• For field service employees, passively receiving assignments is generally not compensable, but calling clients and other engineers to schedule appointments is compensable.

• If an employee must perform required scheduling work that consumes most of the hour before leaving, or that continues while driving, the trip to the first client site counts as compensable work time rather than a regular commute.

On July 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued two opinion letters — FLSA2026-9 and FLSA2026-10 — clarifying when travel and pre-shift activities are compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The letters impact any employer with hybrid or mobile field service workers. Normal home-to-work commuting remains unpaid, but the DOL sharpened the line between an ordinary commute and travel time or pre-shift work that crosses into compensable time.

FLSA2026-9: Mid-Day Commuting for Hybrid and Remote Workers

The first opinion letter (FLSA2026-9) addresses employers that allow non-exempt employees to split their workday between home and the office. The DOL concluded that mid-day travel between an employee’s home and office remains an ordinary, non-compensable commute, even though it occurs in the middle of the continuous workday, when three conditions are met: (1) the travel is a voluntary alternative to commuting at the start or end of the day; (2) the employee is fully relieved of work duties during the trip; and (3) the employer maintains accurate timekeeping at both locations.

The opinion letter analyzed three scenarios: an employee who shifts her commute to midday to avoid rush-hour traffic, an employee who performs extra work at home before the regular commute, and an employee who catches the last bus home and finishes work at home, afterward. In each case, the DOL found the commute to be non-compensable because it primarily benefited the employee.

Significantly, the DOL formally recognized this ordinary home-to-work commuting as a third category of non-compensable time during the continuous workday, alongside bona fide meal breaks and off-duty time. This clarification removes a key barrier for employers that have hesitated to offer split-day flexibility to non-exempt staff.

The letter also reaffirmed important limits. Travel from worksite to worksite during the day remains compensable. Any time spent actually working during a commute must be paid time. And home-to-work travel can become compensable when it is dictated by the employer under conditions that impose significant constraints on the employee’s time.

FLSA2026-10: Pre-Shift Activities and Commute for Field Service Engineers

The second opinion letter (FLSA2026-10) addresses field service employees who receive electronic assignments, call clients to schedule services, and commute from home to client sites in employer-provided vehicles. The DOL drew a critical distinction between two types of pre-shift activities:

• Passive receipt of pages — generally not compensable. The brief time spent accepting electronic assignment pages is “incidental” to commuting in an employer-provided vehicle and therefore falls outside compensable hours worked.
• Active client scheduling — compensable. Calling clients to arrange appointment details and coordinating with other employees is integral and indispensable to the employee’s principal activity of servicing equipment at client sites, making it compensable work that must be paid.

The opinion letter further addressed what happens to commute time when these activities are performed. When an employee spends the substantial majority of the hour before departure making scheduling calls and then immediately drives to the first client site, the DOL concluded the drive is not an ordinary commute and is compensable because the employee lacks the freedom and flexibility associated with an ordinary commuter. Similarly, when an employee begins scheduling calls during the commute, the workday starts at the first call and the remaining travel to the first client site is compensable.

For situations where the exact time spent on at-home scheduling work is hard to measure, the DOL noted that employers and employees may use a reasonable written agreement to determine compensation.

What This Means for Businesses

Hybrid and remote employers should review telework policies to confirm that midday commuting arrangements are genuinely voluntary and driven by employee preference to ensure that the time is not required to be compensable. Further, employers should ensure employees are fully relieved of all work duties during transit, maintain timekeeping systems to capture hours worked at both locations, and document that split-location schedules serve employee convenience to ensure that the time is not required to be compensable.

Employers of field service and traveling employees should distinguish passive receipt of assignments from active client scheduling and coordination to properly determine whether the time is compensable. Audit dispatch and mobile-device workflows, ensure pre-shift and in-transit work is tracked and compensated, evaluate whether commute time following substantial required work still qualifies as an ordinary commute, and consider establishing reasonable written agreements with employees for hard-to-measure at-home work.

Businesses with hybrid workforces and field service operations should promptly review their travel, timekeeping, and pay practices in light of these developments.

If you have questions about how either of these opinion letters may affect your business, please contact:

• Chloe J. Nowak
• Cali L. Chandiramani
• Scott R. Green
• Christopher P. Maugans
• Caroline J. Berdzik
• Stephen C. Mazzara
• Or another member of the Employment and Labor team