Review Your Vehicle Take-Home Policies

The Washington Supreme Court recently found that travel time from home to the first job site and from the last job site to home was compensable. Stevens v. Brink’s Home Security, Inc. (October 18, 2007). This decision may have implications for employers who furnish cars for their non-exempt employees to take home.

In this case, installation and service technicians filed a class action lawsuit claiming they were entitled to additional compensation for their commute time when they traveled in company-provided trucks. The employer considered the time spent driving from home to the first job site and from the last job site home in the company vehicle as normal commute time and non-compensable.

The Superior Court ruled that this travel time was compensable, and a majority of the Washington Supreme Court affirmed. Based on the facts in the case, the Court concluded that the technicians were "on duty" at a "prescribed work place" during their drive time, and were entitled to compensation for this time under the Washington Minimum Wage Act (MWA).

The Brink’s decision does not mean that normal commute time between the employee’s home and work is compensable if the employee is allowed to use an employer-provided vehicle, such as police officers who drive patrol cars straight from home to the police station.

Here are some suggestions offered by Summit Law Group on ways to avoid rendering normal commute time compensable if non-exempt employees are allowed to use an employer-provided vehicle and commute directly between home and their first worksite and between their last worksite and home:

• Do not require employees perform any work before they begin or after they finish their scheduled work, such as paperwork, cleaning, or servicing of the vehicle.
• Do not strictly limit employee activities during the commute from their home to their first worksite by requiring them to remain on call.
• Consider whether it is essential that the employee commute directly from home to the first job site or whether it is possible to have the employee report to the headquarters first to receive his/her daily assignments.

In response to the Brink’s decision, L&I is working to update its administrative policy on employees’ travel time in employer-provided vehicles. The business community will likely seek legislation to address the ramifications of the decision.

We suspect that this decision will have a greater impact on private sector employers than local governments, because local governments are less likely to dispatch employees directly from home to a job site, and if they do, employees are compensated in some way for that time.

However, after reviewing the decision, if you have comments or concerns about how it may impact your jurisdiction, AWC would like to hear from you. Please contact Luann Daniels at luannd@awcnet.org or 360-753-4137 x 135. She can also provide you with a copy of the full analysis of the decision prepared by Summit Law Group.

 
[ previous article ]  [ return to top ]  [ next article ]