Avoid Costly Mistakes With Remote Work Travel Rules

Employers must treat travel between a bona fide home office and a principal workplace as compensable work time under the new Department of Labor opinion letter. The guidance narrows the old Portal-to-Portal rule, so only mid-day trips that split a workday trigger payment.

Remote Work Travel Session Compensation Explained

In 2026 the Department of Labor released two opinion letters that clarify how travel time is counted for hybrid employees. The letters state that any travel occurring after a split-day schedule and before the employee resumes duties at a principal location is work time that must be paid. In my experience as a journalist covering labour law, I have seen firms scramble to re-write policies that previously treated such trips as unpaid "commute".

To comply, employers should calculate session compensation by adding the exact minutes an employee spends travelling between their home office and the principal place of work. A simple time-tracking template - start and stop timestamps for each segment - can capture the data required for an audit-ready record. When I spoke with a senior HR manager at a Dublin-based fintech, she said, "We introduced a spreadsheet that logs the minute-by-minute travel; it saved us from costly back-pay calculations".

The key is precision. The DOL letter stresses that the interval is compensable only when the employee is expected to be on-site after the travel. If the employee merely returns home, the time remains unpaid. This distinction means payroll systems must be able to differentiate between pre-work and mid-day travel. In practice, I have watched companies adopt a flag in their payroll software that automatically adds the travel minutes to the day's wages whenever the travel occurs between 12:00 pm and the next on-site start.

For organisations that rely on external agencies to manage remote work travel, the guidance also applies. The agency must ensure that consultants record travel in the same way as internal staff, otherwise the client could be exposed to liability. The rule is clear: if the travel is part of the employee’s workday, you pay for it. If it is a personal errand, you do not.

Key Takeaways

• Mid-day travel between home office and work site is compensable.
• Use a minute-by-minute log to avoid audit issues.
• Payroll flags should capture travel after lunch.
• Home office must be a permanent, separate workspace.
• Regular audits keep policies compliant.

Workday Travel Paid vs Unpaid Under the New DOL Guidance

Here's the thing about the new DOL guidance: it draws a line at the clock. Travel that occurs after a split-day schedule - for example, a sales rep who works from a Dublin home office in the morning, then drives to a client in Belfast for an afternoon meeting - must be paid. By contrast, travel that happens before the first work-day start, such as a commuter driving to a home office, remains unpaid.

When I was talking to a publican in Galway last month, the owner mentioned that his staff who work part-time from home were suddenly confused about whether their afternoon trips counted as work. The confusion is understandable because the old Portal-to-Portal Act treated most travel as non-compensable. The DOL letters now require employers to treat the interval as work only if it is integral to the day’s duties.

Case law from 2023 shows that firms that only paid pre-work travel saw a rise in turnover, as employees perceived the policy as unfair. The court decisions underscore the importance of consistency - pay for the same type of travel, no matter when it occurs in the day. In practical terms, HR teams should update payroll rules to flag any travel segment that falls between the employee’s lunch break and the next on-site start. Most modern payroll platforms allow a custom rule based on time stamps; once set, the system automatically adds the appropriate wage rate.

For businesses that manage remote-work travel programmes, the distinction matters for budgeting too. A travel stipend that covers only pre-work travel will leave a gap that could trigger complaints. By aligning the stipend with the DOL definition - i.e., covering the mid-day travel window - companies avoid disputes and can demonstrate good-faith compliance during a DOL audit.

DOL Opinion Letter Commute Time Explained for Hybrid Employees

Sure look, the DOL has essentially re-defined "commute time" for hybrid workers. The opinion letters clarify that "commute time" is no longer a blanket term for any travel to and from a home office. Only travel that is integral to the employee’s workday - such as a mid-day trip to a client site or a required training venue - qualifies for compensation under the Fair Labour Standards Act.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that hybrid workers on average spend about 42 minutes per day in paid travel. While the BLS does not break out the cost, extrapolating the average hourly wage suggests a substantial increase in wages nationwide if every employer complies fully. In Ireland, the trend mirrors the US: remote-first firms are tracking travel more rigorously, especially after the pandemic normalised split-day schedules.

Managers can avoid costly disputes by drafting a written policy that defines the "principal place of work" and lists the scenarios where travel is paid. The DOL letters themselves provide language that can be quoted verbatim - for instance, "travel that occurs after a split-day schedule and before the employee resumes work at a principal place of work is compensable". I have seen this language inserted into employee handbooks across the Atlantic, and it provides a solid defence should the DOL request documentation.

One practical tip I picked up from a compliance officer in Cork: create a short FAQ for line managers that includes real-world examples - a consultant travelling from a home office in Dublin to a client meeting in London, a field engineer moving between two site locations on the same day, and a sales rep who stops at a co-working space for a client call. When the policy is clear and examples are provided, managers can answer queries without fear of misclassification.

Bona Fide Home Office vs Principal Place of Work Definitions

In order to apply the DOL rule correctly, you need to know what counts as a "bona fide home office" and what is a "principal place of work". A bona fide home office is a permanent, regularly used workspace that meets the DOL criteria - it must be separate from the employee’s personal living area and equipped for the job. It cannot be a temporary coffee shop or a co-working desk that the employee uses intermittently.

In my reporting, I have visited several Dublin households where the home office is a spare bedroom, fully fitted with a desk, dedicated internet line and office-grade equipment. Those set-ups meet the DOL’s definition. By contrast, an employee who works from a kitchen table three days a week and a café the other two would not meet the bona fide standard.

The principal place of work is any location where the employee performs the majority of their duties on a given day. If a split-day schedule means the employee works from home in the morning and then from a client site in the afternoon, both locations are principal places for that day. The DOL letter emphasizes that travel between two principal places is compensable.

Employers should conduct quarterly audits of employee work locations. Document the address, square footage and equipment inventory of each home office. This paperwork becomes vital if the DOL asks for proof during an audit. I have helped a tech start-up set up a simple audit sheet that records these details; the result was a clear paper trail that satisfied the DOL’s evidentiary requirements.

Designing Remote Work Travel Programs That Meet Compliance

When you design a remote work travel programme, embed the DOL’s mid-day travel rule into the eligibility matrix. That means any approved itinerary that splits the workday automatically includes a compensation component for the travel window. In my work with a multinational consultancy, we built a travel request form that asks: "Is this travel occurring after a split-day schedule?" If the answer is yes, the system adds a travel stipend based on the employee’s hourly rate.

One pilot programme run by a Fortune 500 tech firm added a $15-per-hour travel stipend for split-day trips. The result was a sharp drop in employee legal complaints and an uplift in morale scores. While the exact figures are proprietary, the qualitative feedback was clear - staff felt the company respected their time and complied with the new guidance.

For Irish firms, the same principles apply. A clear FAQ for managers should outline the difference between remote work travel jobs, paid travel sessions and unpaid commute. Use real-world examples that Irish employees will recognise - for instance, a sales rep travelling from a home office in Limerick to a client meeting in Dublin, or a project manager who attends a workshop in Belfast after a morning of remote work.

Finally, keep the programme flexible. Remote work is evolving, and the DOL may issue further clarification. By building a policy that references the current opinion letters and allows for periodic review, you safeguard your organisation against future costly mistakes. Fair play to any employer who gets this right - it protects the bottom line and the people who make the business run.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: When does travel become compensable under the new DOL guidance?

A: Travel that occurs after a split-day schedule and before the employee resumes work at a principal place of work is considered compensable work time. Pre-work travel to a home office remains unpaid.

Q: How can I prove that a home office is "bona fide"?

A: Document the workspace’s address, square footage, dedicated equipment and internet line. Conduct quarterly audits and keep records of any changes. The DOL looks for a permanent, separate area used regularly for work.

Q: Do remote workers need a travel stipend for every trip?

A: Only trips that qualify as compensable work time under the DOL rule - typically mid-day travel that splits the workday - require payment. Regular commuting to a home office is not covered.

Q: What documentation should I keep for audit purposes?

A: Keep time-tracking logs with start-stop timestamps, written policies referencing the DOL letters, and audit sheets that record home office details and travel itineraries. These documents form the core of a DOL-ready audit trail.

Q: Can I use the DOL guidance for remote workers outside the US?

A: While the DOL opinion letters are US-specific, many principles - such as paying for work-related travel and defining a bona fide home office - are echoed in EU and Irish employment law. Aligning your policy with both sets of rules ensures broader compliance.