Hourly employees, travel time and over time??? URGENT?

Question

Hi All,
Yesterday, I asked if hourly employees get paid for traveling outside the country, which you can find over here
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

I got some interesting responses. Now, here is my situation, I work from 7-3:30 Monday to Friday. Sometimes, if I work over time, I do get paid for it. For example, if I work from 3:30-4:30, I get one hour over time and so on. If I come on Saturday or Sunday, I also get paid for every hour I work, because I have to "punch in." Now, I'm gonna be going on a business trip to Europe on a Tuesday, will get there on Wednesday, will have meetings on Thursday and Friday and Saturday I will come back to the US. How am I gonna get paid since I get paid per hour? I asked HR and she was very surprised that I'm going to be traveling since I'm an hourly employee. She said, she is going to ask, so I'm still waiting. Is there is some kind of law in regards to this? Thanks

Answer 1

Its different in every state. Go to labor department website for your state, you will find that info there. Don't need to wait for HR.

Answer 2

Generally, travel time for hourly employees follows some relatively counter-intuitive rules. Air travel for work is considered work time if it is during regular working hours. Therefore, if your flight is between 7:30-3:00, Monday through Friday, it counts as work time; if it is at some other time, it does not count. Travel by car only counts if you are the driver, not if you are the passenger.
On a business trip, you should track the actual hours that you work, and you should be paid for those hours. Therefore, track the hours that you're in meetings and doing things for work, but don't count things like meals, free evenings, sight-seeing, etc.
I hope this helps!

Answer 3

I used to be management at AT&T and the answer to your question would be found in a bunch of thick binders which were the result of Union Contract negotiations. I don't remember the answer but it was all outlined and no you don't get paid for 24 hours per day when away from home.

You might ask a manager to see the binders yourself, it would depend on your company.

Answer 4

since you are hourly, you should be paid for each hour you spend travelling and visiting customers/sites (whatever you are doing)
So, lets say you are leaving from Houston (where I am)
I would get paid from the time I leave my house, until I arrive in London, or wherever my final air stop would be, as well I would be paid 8 hours per day I was out of the country, then again as soon as I leave my hotel to head back to the airport, until I get back to my house.

That is how it "should be done"
Realistically, you should be paid for flight time, and 8 hours per day (minimum) at your destination.

Answer 5

Travel time is normally paid at a different rate -- a lesser rate since you're not actually working. Sometimes it's just a flat rate per day.

But you should definitely get it resolved before you leave.

Answer 6

You should get your full 8 hour day, otherwise you can file for "under employment" through your unemployment agency. You can also keep ALL receipts for everything and get a tax wrieoff for them since it was a business trip (you can't do this if they give you a per-diem).