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SEP 2020
Unpaid travel time claims are prevalent in wage and hour litigation matters. Attorney’s typically will turn to economic consultants to calculate the travel distance and travel time in such cases. Unpaid travel time can result in unpaid straight time pay and unpaid overtime premium pay if the addition of travel time to time worked exceeds the overtime threshold. It is important for attorneys to understand the process consultants use in order to effectively and knowledgeably communicate the analysis their client needs.
What we use:
We utilize Google Maps API to calculate travel time and travel distance. In order to calculate travel, it is important to first organize the data to most efficiently calculate travel. Google allows 2,000 origin to destination requests per day per user. Travel only needs to be calculated for unique destinations that can then be applied to the data and potentially duplicate to and from destinations. Google Maps API can calculate the expected travel time between two locations at a specific time of day or the average amount of time taken to travel that distance. This can be useful if traffic plays a significant role between locations and if workers are located in heavily trafficked areas.
How we use it:
The types of travel performed by non-exempt workers vary case by case. In some instances, the travel time between the employee’s normal work location and their job site location may be compensable. For example, an employee may need to drive from their home to their work location or employers office before driving to their job site location to begin their day. We have calculated travel time in this manor for technicians, painters and pest control, and construction workers. These are just a few examples of workers that may experience this type of unpaid travel.
Additionally, we have calculated travel time in cases of home health caregivers. These home caregivers were only paid for time spent with patients and were not paid for time spent traveling between patients homes. After organizing the data, we were able to determine the order of patients each caregiver visited and calculate the travel time between their first patient and their second patient of the day, and so on. This type of travel time calculation may be helpful in travel time matters where employees travel to and from different locations throughout their work day.
The frequency of trips is dependent on the types of employees and the circumstances of the case. One common factor that is required in all wage and hour matters involving travel time is complete and detailed data.