Travel Time Pay: Job Sites, Company Vehicles, and the Commute Exception

Driving between job sites, riding mandatory company transport, or traveling to distant assignments is paid time in California — the unpaid commute rule is far narrower than employers pretend.

What California Law Says

Time spent traveling under the employer’s control is hours worked. Morillion v. Royal Packing required pay for compulsory ride time on employer buses, and travel between the first job site and later sites during the day is always compensable.

How to Fight Back, Step by Step

1. Map your typical day: first location, movements between sites, return trips for equipment.
2. Separate true home-to-work commuting from employer-controlled travel.
3. Log mandatory ride time, mileage in your own vehicle, and out-of-town travel hours.
4. Add unreimbursed mileage under section 2802 to the wage claim.
5. Demand and file with a day-by-day reconstruction.

Common Questions

I drive a company van from home and cannot stop for errands. Paid?

Restrictions matter — where use of the vehicle and route is controlled and mandatory, courts have found the drive compensable.

Overnight trips for work — what part is paid?

Travel that cuts across your normal working hours is paid, and California treats time spent as a passenger en route to an assignment more generously than federal law.