U.S. Department of Labor issues FLSA guidance on commuter travel and remote work

Traders Union
All News
Financial News
FLSA guidance on travel & remote work

Highlights

U.S. Department of Labor issued two FLSA opinion letters clarifying wage and hour rules for employees with split remote-office workdays and travel time.
The Wage and Hour Division relaunched its opinion letter program in June 2025 to provide compliance support and clarity on ambiguous federal labor law scenarios.
Employers are encouraged to use industry-specific toolkits and the PAID program to self-report and resolve FLSA and Family and Medical Leave Act violations.

New guidance on travel time rules

As reported by U.S. Department of Labor, the agency is issuing two opinion letters on how the FLSA applies to commuter travel for employees who perform part of their workday at home. The letters provide official written interpretations from the department’s enforcement agencies, including the Wage and Hour Division, on how wage and hour rules apply in specific factual situations.

Wage and Hour Division Administrator Andrew Rogers says the opinions give employers broader guidance to make informed decisions on different work arrangements. He says the clarification helps organizations implement compliant practices that support operational and employee needs while ensuring workers are properly compensated for all hours worked.

The first letter, FLSA2026-9, addresses whether mid-day travel between an employee’s home and work office counts as worktime when the employee works at both locations and the travel is offered as a voluntary alternative to unpaid commuting before or after the workday. The second, FLSA2026-10, examines whether time spent receiving pages, calling clients and other workers to schedule appointments, and driving from home to the first client appointment must be recorded and paid as worktime.

Compliance support for employers and workers

The department says the opinion letter program was relaunched in June 2025 as part of a broader compliance assistance effort for workers, employers and other stakeholders seeking clarity on federal labor law in workplace-specific cases. The Wage and Hour Division says it will use discretion in deciding whether and how to respond to requests, with a focus on matters where existing regulations or prior guidance are unclear or raise broad concern.

The agency is also directing the public to its opinion letter resources and request process, while encouraging employers to use industry-specific compliance toolkits. It says employers can also turn to the PAID program to self-report and resolve potential minimum wage and overtime violations under the FLSA, along with certain possible violations under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

In our earlier article, we covered a congressional hearing on how FinCEN could strengthen anti-money laundering enforcement while reducing unnecessary compliance burdens on financial institutions. Lawmakers also debated modernizing Bank Secrecy Act reporting thresholds and raised privacy concerns about beneficial ownership information already held by the agency.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.