| 115857.1 | |
| (I posted this orginally to General forum but now see that it should have been under Business. Sorry about that.) I’m new to the forum so this is my first post. I am struggling with the right policy for my customers and employees for travel time. We have been in business for the last two years and most of our jobs are an hour or more from employees home base. We only have a few employees. Our jobs typically last 3-4 days. For jobs over two hours, we typically stay overnight and we pick up the expenses. When we commute, I typically pickup my employees on the way. We have been paying travel one-way at their full wage. This adds quite a bit of cost to a job. We are looking at other way to lower our costs to our clients and secure more work in this economic downturn. How do most small contracting companies handle this? One thought we had was that the travel clock starts after the first 30 or 40 minutes. That way, we are clear that we do not pay for local jobs. A second thought was not paying for travel for specified local towns. I have searched the archives and gotten some good ideas. We want to fair to both clients and employees. Please let me know how your company handles this. |
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Old masonry may look tough, but the wrong mortar can destroy it—here's how to choose the right mix for lasting repairs.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Fine Home Building
Follow
-
Fine Homebuilding
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial Now -
GBA Prime
Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
Where I used to work we were paid travel time one way. we met at the shop and traveled to teh jobsite. Our time started when we arrived at the shop every morning, at ended once we were done in the the afternoon.
Currently we are not paid travel time and I retuniely have 1 Hr or more travel each direction. It has coem down to how bad do you want to work!
ML
If you work in a place other than from home you don't get paid to commute. Id say after 45 minutes or X miles outside the area from your shop you get paid. If you don't like it work elsewhere or report to the shop and be driven in for free with the boss.
Unless you as an employer have a need for your employees to come to the shop before they head to a site, you should not be paying them for travel.
Unless perhaps you guys do some real high end or specific type of work where there are just not any companies around to perform this type of work. Then you would just be charging off the time to the client I would think.
Last co I worked for most of our jobs were typically within an hour of the store and most employees homes.
In this economy, guys should be willing to travel a bit. Gas is fairly cheap. Let them truck pool amongst them selves.
Man you are cheap Eric.
When I was in bidiness, when the travel exceeded 40 miles I paid regular wages to a driver at reg pay. I will also say, I required 3 to a truck, driver paid others not!
Now I have never had guys drive very far but it seems to me in this economy, folks should just be happy to have a job.
If you work for anyone else, they pay you for when you are AT work not to get to work...I have never been paid to travel. But thats just me...
out time starts at the shop and ends at the shop. everyday
If your guys leave from the shop...but if they leave from their homes it starts on the job site.
Company I work for, 50 cents/mile plus time if starting out at the shop, nothing from starting from home unless it is mileage to airport for > 350 mi. trips.
Overnight expenses are actual expenses - have been with folks who like gourmet restaurants at > $100 per person, kinda abuse of the system there.Gotta submit receipts for >75 though.
Back in the roaring early 90's when both sons worked for big software companies, they said it was not unusual for some folks to regularily spend $300 for a bottle of wine at an out of town dinner and bill it to the company. Youngest son never drinks alcohol, said he once pulled a billionaire (about to drown due to excess JD) out of a fountain in Rio.
When guys are working, all laid off right now.
The rule is that they are on the job at 7:00am, I don't pay that. Work till 3:30 and go home.
They can rideshare with each other or hitch with me If I'm gonna be there all day, but they have to come to my place, I ain't picking them up.
If 2 hours away I pick up the hotel and pay a per diem(sp) of 35.00 per day.
October 17th, 2009
Jeremy and Lisa
Was there ever any doubt?
Thanks for all the feedback. It seems like there is a wide range of opinions. I am leaning towards paying travel at 1/2 wage past a 1 hour radius if they are in my truck. If they are driving their own vehicle, I'll pay mileage after the first 30 miles or so. This will help reduce my costs and make me more competitive.
You are saving them money when they ride with you.
Why would you pay at all for that?
I understand the over 30 miles part. None of my guys live close to me. Sometimes they live closer to the jobs then I do. It's a wash, they need to budget for gas.
No one ever payed me for travel time.
until, I got a company truck and they paid gas. I didnt get a wage when I drove their truck though.October 17th, 2009
Jeremy and Lisa
Was there ever any doubt?
I think I have reached a fair proposal. I won't pay for travel less than a hour. After that, they will get full hourly wage until we cross the 1-hour line on the way home. I will be able to bid lower for local jobs which is what I want. For jobs 1-2 hours away, they will get paid a little less. For the job that is 2 hours away, they will get paid the same as they do now. We work a full day at the job site so a 8-hour day turns into a 12-hour day when we travel. We don't have a shop so there is no their "official" day is only at the site.
If they take their own vehicle (at my request), we will pay mileage after the first 30 miles.
Before I became a contractor the boss used to call me at 6:30 and set-up the days work. Since I was holding the phone I couldn't brush my teeth and eat breakfast so I ended up late to the job. I started putting the phone time on my timecard. Boy was he pissed!
I never once got paid to commute.
OB
Whe I was a PM recently, the employess would start calling me at 6am.
I put and end to that fast.
If you need to know where to go and what to do tomorrow, you call me at 3pm and we'll go over it.
Don't call, don't work tomorrow.
Done.
A tiered travel policy sounds reasonable, especially if clearly defined. Some industries handle this by setting a base distance/time threshold and only paying for travel beyond that. It mirrors how regional transfer services operate—Luton Transfer does something similar by defining set pickup areas and fees, which helps both the business and clients manage expectations.
New to the forum and looking for advice on fair travel pay. We currently pay employees full wage for one-way travel to job sites, which adds up. To cut costs, we’re considering starting the travel clock after 30–40 minutes or not paying for travel within certain towns.