Not Getting Paid For Travel Time
Is this discrimination at work? If so what can be done?
As of this morning I worked at a satellite company installing satellite systems and maintaining them here in the Tri-Cities of eastern Tenn. We are paid on production(by the job) so no matter how far I drive or if I’m installing a dish on a trailer or a mansion it’s the same rate of pay. When this company started we had about 25 techs running routes. Being located in eastern Tenn, our market was huge. So yes, there were days that we were expected to drive 2.5 hours to our first job to places such as KY and the very northern tip of VA (which we could not claim on our time sheets) and then of course the 2.5 hours back home just to get up and do it all again the next day. This also does not include the time spent driving between multiple jobs in one day. Along with that there were so many other quirks that I won’t get in to much detail because I don’t want to stray from the main point. So, over a period of about a year we had guys quitting left and right. 5 hours of uncompensated drive time in one day is just too much. Well this trend continued until here recently when we were so low on techs the company had to bring in some guys from different offices to help with the workload. They brought in guys from Knoxville, TN which is a 1.5 hour drive to the Tri-cities. Also they brought in some guys from Asheville, NC which is 1 hour away. Not only do they have these guys hotel accommodations, they are running all of our local routes now. While we are expected to drive the 2.5 hour trip to KY and VA and back while doing a full days load of work. Upon repeated requests to be placed in hotels or be compensated for travel time we continually got turned down. I left this morning after being given another 5+ hour round trip route, which doesn’t inlcude the time it takes to do all the work. So how is it legal that this company can treat some employees different and expect us to just bite the bullet and work 15-18 hour days while only making the money of an 8-10 hour day. If someone knows a legal aspect to this I would greatly appreciate the input. Or if all I can do is complain to some agency I want to do what ever I can. It seems like this company can’t keep employees anyway so it’s probably all headed to the toilet but I’m just curious if that sounds right to anyone else?
Actually no, when I signed on I was guaranteed to only be working locally and to have a set schedule which neither happened.
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2 Responses to Not Getting Paid For Travel Time
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I think you’re getting/got shafted. I would report it. It doesn’t matter that you no longer work there.
What you want to research is the Fair Labor Standards Act
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/traveltime.htm
No, it’s not discrimination. Discrimination is on the basis of race, color, religion, age (over 40), nationality, gender, sex, disability and sometimes sexual orientation. Employees can be treated differently any way the employer sees fit as long as it is not on the basis of the list above. You always have the choice of finding a new job.