ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Do you pay or get paid for driving

I do mostly service/warranty work.(but I'm the only guy with a Co. truck). Shop of about 30 guys.
I'm payed from when I get to the shop until I leave the shop. The company truck is in the shop, I don't take it home (I refused that 'cause I don't have the room for it).
If someone has to use their own vehicle for company use, they're payed 28.5 cents per mile. This is for the PM, secretary, and my backup guy (when I'm buried)Only!
The rest of the crew are expected to show up on the job at start time, and leave at quitting time... Same as if they worked for anybody else.
We never allow employees to go get materials.
As a matter of fact, during their breaks they cannot leave the job, because they are on the clock...lunch is different, they are off the clock, and we are not liable for their actions.
Be careful!! If these guys are on the clock, the liability for their "beer drinkin' crack smokin'" could eventually fall on the contractor...S

Well, after reading your responses I don't feel so bad for the way I've been paying my guys. Even without the return drive time, they usually get 45-50 hours. I do kind of feel bad if a job is near a guys house, but he has to drive 35 minutes back to the shop and then go home.

Our company found out the hard way.By law if an employee has to report to a shop then drive to a job,he is to get paid driving time.If he is to drive from his home to a job site,no driving time pay. This is law .They ended up having to go back 1.5 years and pay all back driving time.Can of worms opened

What if you pick up your helper on the way to the job site?

This is a question of fairness. As an employeer you control where the employees work.

If an employee lives 50 miles from my shop, that is his choice.

If the employee lives 50 miles from a job site, that is my choice.

I would net each employee's mileage to the shop against that to the job site and settle once a month. $.36 a mile is $18/hr at 50mph. That might be reasonable.

The fair answer and legal answer at least around here is simply to pay the employee from the start to the end of the work day. If you require your employees to report to the shop at the start of the day that is when the pay starts. Same thing for reporting back to the shop at the end of the day.
If the employee goes from job to job, it is paid time. If the employee goes to the supply house, it is paid time.
If the employee reports to the job site and goes home from the job site, no pay is due.
If you pick up some one to go to the site ask why you are doing so. If it is a convience to them treat it the same way a group of carpoolers at an office does, no pay to get to work. If it is because only company trucks are allowed on a job site with parking for personel vehicles not availble or far away, the clock starts upon pick up.
One company around here tried to have different pay rates for driving time vs work time. The DOL made them pay the difference for 3 years. Then they were barred from federal and state contracts. Since those contracts were 85% of thier work, they are no longer in business.
Keep careful records, When the DOL or some other legal agency looks thru your payroll records, they are usually 6 months to 2 years after the fact. It can be and is a real pain in the a**. Your memory of the job is not acceptable to them.

Good luck to all

I like to say thay mine is an equal partnership- he finds the work, I do it!
Being so close to the "sharp end of the stick," I keep in mind that you can't always charge the customer for your "support" time. If I do several small jobs in a day, I may have to put in 11 hours in order to bill for 8. That's the nature of a small business.
It's also something to consider in setting your "hourly rate." The customer would rather pay $60 for an hour of you actually working, than $60 for an hour of work and an hour of going to the parts house, etc (at $30/hr.)

If the employee is driving a company truck he is covered for medical under your comp insurance. This means you must pay him when he gets in the truck not when he gets to the job. When you get your insurance audit like the gent in the previous post said. they can go back a few years and you will pay the back pay plus get a new rating with much higher insurance payments.

Good subject. Every person I've seen with our company drives there own car (this includes Jouneyman). This is very unfair to all of us. Heck, we kick out 10-15 bucks every two days for gas, and we are also putting massive miles on our own automobile. Not to mention the fact that our cars have been broken into. Heck, I think every employer should pay the miles, or give-out the company vans.

Almost all employeers try to limit costs. Truck and time cost money. To pay for thise items our billing rates have to pay for all our costs. Payroll, taxes, social security matching, insurance, vehicles, equipment, tools, as well as materials used. Travel time can be very expensive. When on out of normal area jobs ( more than about 75 or so miles away) you have things like hotels and meals.
If you do not cover these items, your company will go belly up.
If you get spendy and try to raise your rates too much - your competion will get more of your work. Then you downsize you company and lose good employees.
All I ask is a fair days work for a fair days pay. If some one can not get to work on thier own, I can not use him/her.