paid travel time work

DOL Explains When Employees Must Be Paid for Travel Time

Jul 6, 2018

Eighty years ago the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) established federal minimum wage and overtime requirements for hourly employees. The law’s basic tenet seems straightforward: Employers must pay employees for their “work.” Yet for many employers, compliance with the FLSA on issues such as employee travel time continues to be problematic because the FLSA does not really explain when an employee is at “work.”

The FLSA and Portal-to-Portal Act

The Supreme Court initially explained that “work” time means when an employee’s activities are controlled or required primarily for the benefit of the employer. Congress subsequently added some specifics to the Supreme Court’s expansive definition. The Portal-to-Portal Act, an amendment to the FLSA, provides that employee work time does not include:

(1) Travel to and from the actual place of performance of the principal activity the employee is employed to perform; or

(2) Activities that are undertaken before or after the employee’s principal work activity.

Three Scenarios and DOL’s Opinion Letter FLSA 2018-18

Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter in response to a company’s questions about travel time pay for a group of hourly employees who repair, inspect and test construction cranes. The employees do not have a fixed work location; they travel to various customer locations each day. They usually work eight to twelve hour days servicing cranes, and generally start work at around 7:00 a.m. Depending on the availability of parts and other factors, the employees may need to stay in a hotel overnight and return in the morning to complete a job. Employees are provided company vehicles that may be used for both work and personal matters.

Three travel time scenarios were considered by the DOL:

(1) Employee travel time from home to the company’s office, using a company vehicle, to obtain a job itinerary and then continue on to various customer locations. Travel time from home to office varies from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on where the employee lives.

(2) Employee travel time from home directly to a customer location; and

(3) Employee travel time by plane on a Sunday from home to an out-of-state destination for a company training that begins at 8:00 a.m. on Monday. The training continues through Friday, with return travel home on Friday after class, or occasionally on Saturday, depending on flight availability.

The first two scenarios involve common commutes to and from work. Under the Portal-to-Portal Act, employees do not need to be paid for time spent commuting between home and work. This generally holds true, even when the employee travels directly from home to different job sites, unless the commute time involved is extraordinary. Once the employee has arrived at the job, however, FLSA regulations require payment for all travel time between job sites during the day. Use of a company-provided vehicle within the normal commuting area typically does not convert the employee’s ordinary commute into compensable work time.

Scenario three implicated how to account for employee travel time away from home, both on the weekend and overnight. Travel away from home is clearly worktime when it cuts across the employee’s usual work day; the employee is simply substituting travel for usual job duties. This also includes travel time on Saturday and Sunday that corresponds to the employee’s normal working hours on other days of the week. The DOL also noted that an employee must be paid for all time the employee is actually required to work while on travel, irrespective of whether or not it falls within the employee’s regular work day.

What Does this Mean to You?

Calculating employee travel time can pose a significant challenge for many employers. There are multiple factors you must take into account, even when an employee is traveling within his home territory. There are no bright lines to establish when an employee has strayed outside his normal commuting area, converting what would have been an unpaid commute into time on the clock. The FLSA requires employers to maintain accurate time records for employees; a failure to do so can result in significant statutory damages and attorneys’ fees.

If you find yourself facing such employee travel circumstances as described here, the employment law attorneys at Bean, Kinney & Korman can assist in evaluating your company’s particular environment and help craft a reasonable solution that will address the situation.

• R. Douglas Taylor, Jr.

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When Must I Pay Employees for Travel Time?

Travel Time vs. Commuting Time

Image by Jo Zixuan Zhou © The Balance 2020 

In general, your business should pay employees for the time they spend traveling for work-related activities. You don't have to pay employees for travel that is incidental to the employee's duties and time spent  commuting  (traveling between home and work). Travel time can include both local trips and travel away from home. 

Travel vs. Commuting Time 

Commuting is going back and forth to work. Everyone (at least everyone who doesn't work at home) commutes to a job. Commuting time is personal time, not business time. The IRS does not allow businesses to deduct commuting time as a business expense, and employees should not be paid for the commuting time.     

The Department of Labor (DOL) discusses employees who drive employer-provided vehicles. The DOL considers the time spent in home-to-work travel by an employee in an employer-provided vehicle, or in activities performed by an employee that are incidental to the use of the vehicle for commuting, generally is not "hours worked" and, therefore, does not have to be paid.  

Here's a possible rule of thumb: If your business authorizes a trip by an employee, no matter how the employee travels (car, train, bus, etc.) you should pay for the employee's travel time. 

Travel time for hourly and salaried employees may be counted differently. Pay to employees for local travel time is only applicable to non-exempt (hourly) employees, not to exempt (professional or managerial) employees.     Exempt employees are paid for their expertise by the job, not by the hour.  

Different Types of Travel Time:

Home to Work Travel , as explained above, is commuting time, not work time, and it's not paid.

Travel on Special One Day Assignment in Another City. The DOL says "the time spent in traveling to and return from the other city is work time," but they note that you may deduct the time the employee would spend commuting.

Sara works in an office in your company, but you send her to another city on a special assignment. She leaves from her home, goes to the city, and comes back home the same day. She spends 3 hours traveling (1 1/2 hours each way) from home to the other city. She would normally spend 30 minutes total driving from her home to work and back, so you could deduct the 30 minutes and pay her for 2 1/2 hours of travel time.

Travel That's Part of the Employee's Normal Work. Time an employee spends traveling is part of the job. You must count this time as work time. The time the employee spends going to the first job site, and home from the last job site, is commuting time and isn't paid.  

An LPN (licensed professional nurse) works for a nursing facility and travels between the two locations of this facility, providing care for patients at both locations. Her daily travel time between these locations must be included in her pay because she is not commuting. But she can't count the time driving from home to the first location or the time back home from the last location.

Travel Away from Home. If travel includes an overnight stay it is travel time. The DOL doesn't include travel away from home outside regular hours as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus, or car as work time. But you must count hours worked on regular working days and work hours on nonworking days (weekends and holidays).  

If an employee travels from Cleveland to Pittsburgh for a two-day seminar at the direction of your company, you must pay for the hours the employee would have worked in a normal workday for each of those days, even if they were on Saturday or Sunday.

Incidental vs. Work Travel: Paid or Not Paid?

• An employee drives to work from his home every day. You ask him to stop on his way and pick up bagels for the staff meeting. This driving time is not paid. Time commuting to work is never paid time; the time to stop for the bagels is "incidental" to the commuting and is not part of the employee's job. 
• You ask an employee to drive to a store on work time to get bagels for the office meeting. If the employee makes this trip during normal work hours, he or she should be paid. 

Also, you might want to contact an employment attorney to discuss these issues. 

Paying for Travel Expenses

In addition to paying employees for travel time, you should pay their expenses for travel. The Department of Labor doesn't require reimbursement for travel expenses, but it makes sense to pay employees if you require them to travel.   Your business can deduct employee travel expenses as a business expense.   If employees mix business and personal travel, you need to sort out the part that is business-related and pay only these expenses. 

State Regulations on Paying for Employee Travel

Check with your state labor department to see if there are any rules which might override the federal rules. Contact the nearest local office of the U.S. Department of Labor for information on specific instances of travel time that affect your business.

Internal Revenue Service. " Publication 535 (2019): Business Expenses ," Page 5. Accessed May 26, 2020.

Internal Revenue Service. " Travel & Entertainment Expenses ," Page 3. Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Travel Time ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. " Travel Time ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. " Fact Sheet: Hours of Work for Travel ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Fact Sheet #17D: Exemption for Professional Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ," Pages 1-3. Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Opinion Letter FLSA 2018 ," Page 2. Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Reimbursed Travel Expense Payments ," Page 1. Accessed May 26, 2020.

Internal Revenue Service. " Topic No. 511 Business Travel Expenses ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

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Travel Time Pay for Hourly Employees (2024 Update)

By Andrea Nazarian

When it comes to travel time pay for hourly employees, things can get confusing for both employers and employees. If you run a business where your workers are paid by the hour but also have to travel for work, it’s important to understand what your obligations are and what your employees are legally entitled to.

Exempt employees don’t have to worry about this issue as much because they get a fixed amount of money in every paycheck, regardless of their travel time. However, for non-exempt employees, there are rules set by the government that say employers must pay them for the time they spend traveling.

In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know about paying your hourly employees for travel time so your business can stay compliant.

What is Travel Time Pay?

Travel time pay refers to the money that employers are required to give their employees for the time they spend traveling to and from customer locations. It doesn’t include the regular travel from home to work.

In some emergency situations or when the employer asks the employee to do work-related tasks outside of their normal hours, the time spent commuting from home may be considered as paid time.

Travel Time Pay vs Break or Meal Time Pay

It’s important to note that travel time is different from break or meal time. According to the US Department of Labor, any break less than 20 minutes or longer breaks where the employee still has work duties must be paid.

If an employee is asked by their employer to travel during a full break or lunch period, that travel time is considered work-related and should be paid.

To avoid any confusion, it’s a good idea to have a separate policy in place that explains how lunch breaks and rest periods are handled in terms of pay.

Who is Entitled to Receive Travel Time Pay?

It’s important to understand that only certain employees, known as non-exempt employees, have the right to be paid for the time they spend traveling for work. This includes both hourly and salaried employees who fall into the non-exempt category.

On the other hand, there are employees called exempt employees who are not entitled to payment for work-related travel. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) identifies different types of exempt employees, like executives, administrative staff, professionals, computer workers, and outside salespeople.

These exempt employees don’t get paid specifically for their travel time since they receive a fixed salary regardless of their travel obligations.

When Do You Have to Pay Hourly Employees for Travel Time?

Here are three common situations regarding paid work travel, but please note that these examples may not cover all possible scenarios.

Local Travel

If an employee’s job requires them to travel within their regular work hours, they must be paid for that time. This includes situations where they are engaged in work or waiting while traveling, even if it’s outside their normal work hours. However, employees who are on breaks or have enough time to do personal things are not eligible for payment during those periods.

Local Travel Example

Let’s say Rebecca is a personal assistant who drives her client, Steve, around town to run errands. If this travel is part of her job duties and occurs during her work hours, Sandra must be paid for that time.

Special One-day Assignment to Another City

If employees have to make a one-day trip to another city for work-related activities like conferences, classes, meetings, or similar events, you must pay them for the travel time to and from that city. However, you can deduct the time they would normally spend on their regular commute.

Some businesses choose to pay for the entire commuting time, but it’s not mandatory.

Special One-day Assignment to Another City Example

Let’s say Sheila works in your office and you send her to a conference. She travels from her home to the conference location and returns on the same day. The roundtrip takes her two and a half hours, while her regular daily commute is only 30 minutes.

In this case, you can deduct the 30-minute commute and pay her for two hours of travel time.

Overnight Travel

If a non-exempt employee travels away from home and stays overnight, you must count the hours they work on regular working days as well as work hours on non-working days (like weekends or holidays). However, you are not required to pay them for travel time that falls outside their regular work hours, unless they are working during that travel time (e.g., answering work emails or doing research on a work trip).

It’s important to note that these are general guidelines, and specific rules may vary depending on the location and applicable laws. You should familiarize themselves with the regulations in their jurisdiction to ensure compliance with travel time payment requirements.

How to Calculate Work Travel Time

One of the big challenges for business owners is figuring out how to calculate travel time pay accurately. It’s important to make sure that employees’ paychecks are fair and calculated correctly.

While you usually don’t have to pay for the time employees spend commuting between their homes and the workplace, other instances of work-related travel need to be accounted for. This includes adding the travel time to employees timesheets and paying them according to the law and company policies.

How Homebase Can Help Calculate Work Travel Time

Homebase is a time tracking tool that can make tracking travel time and managing employee hours much easier. It automatically tracks employees’ hours and locations while they’re on the move.

This means you can keep track of how much time your employees spend traveling for work. Homebase’s GPS time tracking feature lets you record drive time to different job locations.

GPS Time Tracking with Homebase

To make things even simpler, you can set up GPS Geofencing with Homebase. This allows for automatic tracking of when employees start and stop working based on their physical job location. With this feature, you’ll not only know how long it took employees to get to work sites but also precisely when they arrived and left.

Homebase also has features to streamline time tracking and invoicing. You can set different pay rates for travel hours and regular work hours, helping you streamline payroll . It also helps you handle overtime pay and helps you to plan employee routes and schedules to optimize travel time.

Travel Time Pay Rate Law by State

In some states, travel time pay rates must be the same as the rates for regular working hours, or they need to meet the minimum wage requirements at least. However, in other cases, travel rates might be calculated as a percentage of the employee’s normal pay rate.

In California, any travel time that exceeds an employee’s regular daily commute is considered compensable and must be paid at the agreed regular or overtime rates. Employers can set different rates for travel time, but they cannot be lower than the minimum wage.

In New York, the minimum wage regulations cover work-related travel. Employees must be paid for travel time if it is part of their job duties.

Oregon has different classifications for work travel time: portal-to-portal travel, travel between worksites, travel on special one-day assignments, and overnight travel. Generally, travel time pay is required for all types except for portal-to-portal travel (home-to-work and work-to-home).

In New Jersey, the Wage and Hour Laws ensure fair payment for travel time. When employees are required to travel between job locations as part of their work, they must be paid at the same rate as regular working hours.

In Maryland, paid travel time is defined similarly to federal regulations. It includes travel during regular working hours, travel between job locations, and home-to-work and back travel in emergency cases.

Nevada law states that any travel time considered as work should be paid at least at minimum wage rates. Additionally, any training requested by the employer must also be paid as it is considered work time.

Remember, these are general explanations, and specific regulations may vary. It’s essential for employers and employees to familiarize themselves with the specific laws in their state to ensure compliance with travel time pay requirements.

To make sure your business is following the rules, it’s important for them to understand the specific regulations about travel time pay in their area. Likewise, employees should be aware of their rights regarding travel time pay to ensure they receive fair compensation for the time they spend traveling for work.

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Travel Time Pay FAQs

How do you pay travel time for employees.

The method of paying travel time for employees depends on various factors, including the applicable laws and company policies. Here are a few common approaches:

Paying at Regular or Overtime Rates

In many cases, travel time is paid at the same rate as regular working hours. However, if employees exceed their normal work hours or if the travel time falls under overtime criteria, it should be compensated at the appropriate overtime rate.

Different Rates for Travel Time

Some employers choose to set specific rates for travel time, separate from regular working hours. These rates may be negotiated or agreed upon before the start of job execution, but they should not be lower than the minimum wage rates

Lump Sum or Flat Rate

In certain situations, employers may opt to provide a fixed amount as a lump sum or flat rate to cover travel time. This can simplify calculations and ensure consistent payments.

Travel time pay refers to the compensation that employees receive for the time spent traveling for work-related purposes. It encompasses the hours spent traveling to and from job sites, client locations, meetings, or other work-related destinations.

While travel time pay regulations can vary by jurisdiction, it typically applies to situations where employees are required to travel beyond their regular commute. The purpose of travel time pay is to ensure that employees are fairly compensated for the time and effort spent on work-related travel.

It’s important for employers to understand the specific laws and regulations in their jurisdiction to ensure compliance with travel time pay requirements.

How Do You Pay Travel Time for Hourly Employees?

Paying travel time for hourly employees involves considering various factors, such as the specific laws in your jurisdiction and your company’s policies. Here are some common practices:

Calculate Actual Hours

One approach is to track and pay hourly employees for the actual time spent traveling. This includes the time spent commuting between job sites or client locations. Employees should be compensated at their regular hourly rate for these travel hours.

Paying at Overtime Rates

If the travel time causes hourly employees to exceed their regular working hours or if it falls under overtime criteria based on applicable laws, it should be compensated at the appropriate overtime rate.

Set Flat Rates

Some employers choose to establish fixed flat rates for travel time. This means paying a predetermined amount for each trip or assignment, regardless of the actual hours traveled.

How Do You Pay Non-Exempt Employees for Travel Time?

Paying non-exempt employees for travel time requires careful consideration of legal requirements and company policies. Here are some common practices:

Compensate Actual Travel Hours

One approach is to track and pay non-exempt employees for the actual time they spend traveling. This includes the time spent commuting between job sites, client locations, or other work-related destinations. Employees should be compensated at their regular hourly rate for these travel hours.

Apply Overtime Rates

If the travel time causes non-exempt employees to exceed their regular working hours or qualifies for overtime based on applicable laws, it should be compensated at the appropriate overtime rate.

Establish Flat Rates or Lump Sum Payments

Employers may choose to establish fixed flat rates or provide lump sum payments for travel time. This involves paying a predetermined amount for each trip or assignment, regardless of the actual hours traveled. However, it’s important to ensure that these rates comply with legal requirements, such as meeting or exceeding minimum wage rates.

Do Employers Have To Pay Hourly Employees for Travel Time?

The requirement to pay hourly employees for travel time depends on various factors, including the specific laws in your jurisdiction and the nature of the travel. Here are some general guidelines:

Regular Commute

In most cases, employers are not obligated to pay hourly employees for their regular commute from home to the workplace and vice versa. This is considered ordinary home-to-work travel and is typically not considered compensable travel time.

Work-related Travel

However, when hourly employees are required to travel for work-related purposes, such as going to client locations or job sites, the travel time may need to be compensated. If the travel time exceeds the employee’s regular commute or falls under specific criteria outlined in labor laws, employers may be required to pay hourly employees for that travel time.

It’s important to note that travel time pay regulations can vary by jurisdiction, so it is advisable to consult the labor laws in your specific location and seek legal advice to ensure compliance.

Additionally, establishing clear travel time policies and communicating them effectively to employees can help avoid confusion and promote fair compensation practices.

Remember:  This is not legal advice. If you have questions about your particular situation, please consult a lawyer, CPA, or other appropriate professional advisor or agency.

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Under the FLSA, when must nonexempt employees be paid for travel time?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations require employers to pay for travel time in some circumstances. Generally, time spent traveling is compensable, unless it is normal home-to-work commute time, or when travel requires an overnight stay and the time spent traveling as a passenger falls outside of the employee's normal work hours.

When pay is required, the time spent traveling is considered hours worked and must be included when determining overtime pay obligations. 

Home-to-work travel. Normal commuting time to an employee's regular worksite is not treated as hours worked under the FLSA.

Home to work on a special one-day assignment in another city . When an employee must travel out of town for work but returns home the same day, all the time spent traveling during the day is compensable, regardless of the employee's regular work hours. However, an employer may deduct the time the employee would have spent commuting to his or her regular work location.

Travel that is all in a day's work. Time spent traveling to and from different worksites during the day is work time and must be paid.

Travel away from home. When travel requires an overnight stay, any time traveling as a passenger that falls within the employee's normal work hours is compensable, regardless of what day of the week the travel takes place. Time spent traveling to an airport terminal or train station is considered commute time and is not treated as hours worked, but the time spent waiting at the terminal until arrival at the destination is compensable when it falls during normal work hours.

For example, if Meg normally works Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and she is required to travel by plane on a Sunday for business in another state, her travel time on Sunday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. is compensable.

So, if Meg arrives at the airport on Sunday at 3 p.m. and at her destination at 8 p.m., the employer is required to pay her only from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., the hours that correspond with her normally scheduled work hours.

Alternatively, if Meg drives herself or others at the direction of the employer rather than traveling as a passenger, all the time spent driving is compensable work time, regardless of Meg's normal work hours.

Driving at the direction of the employer . When employees are required to drive themselves or others, all driving time is compensable. However, when an employee is traveling to an overnight stay and has the option to use public transportation (i.e., airplane, train, bus, etc.) but chooses to drive his or her own vehicle instead, the employer can either choose to pay for all time spent traveling or pay only the travel time that occurs during normal work hours, regardless of what day of the week the employee travels (CFR 785.40). If an employee volunteers to drive others in his or her own vehicle to the overnight stay, an employee's time could be unpaid for those travel hours outside the normal work hours.

Worked performed while traveling. An employee must be paid for any time he or she is performing work. This includes time spent working during travel as a passenger that would otherwise be non-compensable.

For example, Meg normally works Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. She arrives at the airport on Sunday at 3 p.m. and at her destination at 8 p.m. Generally, the employer is required to pay her only from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; however, if Meg works on a presentation during her flight until 6:30 p.m., her employer would need to pay her from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Some states have travel-time laws that are more generous than the federal FLSA.  

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When Do Employers Have to Pay Employees for Travel Time?

Deanna deBara

For some small businesses, traveling to meet clients, make sales, and manage day-to-day activities is a must. For others, traveling is valuable for attending conferences, participating in networking events, or undergoing specialized training.

But if it's your employees doing the traveling, do you need to pay them for that time? Whatever your preferences are as a small business owner, the  legal  answer is: that depends.

Let's explore when you need to provide travel time pay for hourly employees, which employees are entitled to that pay, and, if they are entitled, how much you'll need to pay them. 

Who Is Entitled to Travel Pay?

All  non-exempt employees  are entitled to travel pay during normal work hours and when they are actively working outside of those hours. They aren't entitled to travel pay for doing their typical commute, according to the  Fair Labor Standards Act  (FLSA).

Non-exempt employees are typically paid an  hourly wage  and are paid less than $684 per week or $35,568 per year. 

These rules don't apply to exempt employees, and therefore it's up to you whether you want to pay them to travel.

What's more—your state may have some extra rules, so make sure to check your state's Department of Labor or Wage and Hour Division website.

When Do You Have to Provide Travel Time Pay for Hourly Employees?

But when, exactly, are these employees paid to travel? Compensable work time needs to be paid when employees travel:

• Locally: You need to pay employees when they travel locally as part of their regular duties (for example, from your office to a supply store). And if that travel happens outside of the employee's regular workday hours (even if they're only waiting to travel, like sitting at a bus stop or train station)? You still need to pay.
• Between worksites: Employees get travel pay when traveling between worksites. For example, a courier who transports materials between different job sites must be paid for the time spent traveling. Similarly, plumbers who travel between customers' homes are eligible for travel pay.
• For special one-day assignments: You must provide travel pay for hourly employees who travel out of town, even if they return home at the end of the workday—though you can deduct the employee's normal commute time from the total payment. For example, let's say an employee spends a total of two hours traveling to and from a work conference (which takes place during normal working hours). Because her typical daily commute takes 30 minutes, you would only need to pay for 1.5 hours of traveling (in addition to regular hourly wages).
• Overnight: Employees traveling overnight are due travel pay during their regular working hours and any time they spend working outside of those regular hours (for example, participating in late-night conference calls while on a train). You also need to pay employees for traveling during their regular working hours, even on non-working days, like weekends, holidays, or their normal days off.

Bonus tip : The best way to track travel time for your employees? Time tracking software like  Hourly . Workers clock in right from their phones, and the platform automatically tracks their location, hours and what project they're working on—which you can see in real-time. Another perk? You can run payroll with the click of a button.

How Much Do You Have to Pay Employees for Travel Time?

Employees traveling for work need to be paid at least the minimum wage, but they can be paid more or less than their normal pay rate.  

If you want to pay a different rate than an employee's hourly wage, you'll need to:

• Tell the employee they will be paid a different rate before they begin their trip.
• Make sure the hourly rate for travel pay doesn't cause the employee's total pay for all workable hours to  fall below minimum wage  (state, local or federal—whichever is highest) or result in incorrect overtime pay.
• Ensure that you're not violating their employment contract.

This gives you the flexibility to offer a higher rate of pay as an incentive for traveling outside of regular business hours—or, if you decide to pay less than their typical rate (but still minimum wage or above!), it can help make sure that paying for travel won't interrupt your cash flow or cause other financial concerns for your company.

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When Do You NOT Have to Provide Travel Time Pay for Hourly Employees?

Exempt employees—like outside salespeople, executives, managers, administrators, and even IT personnel—aren't entitled to travel pay. And non-exempt workers? They're  not eligible for travel pay  when they are:

• Commuting: An employee's commute—the time spent driving from their home to work (and from work to home)—doesn't qualify as travel time. This also includes the time spent driving from accommodations/lodging (like a hotel) to a work location, like a client's office or conference center.
• On break or during personal time : Non-exempt employees aren't entitled to travel pay during breaks (including meal periods and time spent sleeping) or when they can spend their time how they see fit. In other words, you don't need to pay for traveling during the time an employee can go shopping, sightseeing, or out to eat.
• Away from work and not working : Employees on overnight travel or business trips don't need to be paid outside of regular working hours  unless  they're working during that time period. For example, an employee who regularly works 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday only needs to be paid for traveling on a Saturday if they travel during their normal working hours (i.e., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)—unless they're working  outside  of those hours too (like answering customer support emails or counting inventory).
• A passenger: You don't need to pay for travel when an employee is a passenger (in any sort of vehicle) and isn't doing work outside of regular work hours. The only exceptions occur when you  require  an employee to drive the vehicle or be actively engaged in working (like riding to a job site while handling customer calls or riding as a passenger in a client's vehicle).
• Choosing to drive themselves : If you offer to pay for an employee's travel method (like airfare, a bus ticket, or a train ticket) and the employee requests to drive instead, the employee is only entitled to travel pay while driving during their regular work hours. In other words, if an employee requests to drive themselves vs. taking public transit, you don't need to pay for travel outside of the employee's regular shift.

In other words, a non-exempt employee  isn't entitled to travel pay  unless they are driving, traveling during their normal working hours, or actively working while traveling.

Does Travel Time Count Towards Overtime?

Yes, travel time counts toward overtime, and you'd owe them 1.5 times their regular rate for any hours worked over 40 while they're traveling.

What if your pay rate for traveling is different from an employee's regular wages? Then it gets a little more complicated. 

In that case, you need to use the weighted average of the two overtime rates to get their final pay. Here's an example: 

Let's imagine one of your employees is pulling a 40-hour week at the office. Their rate? $15 per hour. So that gives them $600 for their regular workweek (that's 40 hours multiplied by $15 per hour). Now, during that same week, they also spent 8 hours traveling as overtime, for which you're paying them $11.25 per hour. This gives them an extra $90 (which is 8 hours multiplied by $11.25 per hour).

Add these together, and their total straight-time pay for the week is $690.

Now, to figure out their average rate for the week (including travel time and regular office time), you need to divide this total pay by their total hours worked. In this case, it's 48 hours in total (40 regular hours plus 8 overtime hours). So, $690 divided by 48 hours gives you a weighted average rate of $14.375 per hour.

But they've already been paid for all 48 hours at their respective rates, right? For the 8 hours of overtime, what you owe them is an extra half of that weighted average rate. That's what we call the "overtime premium." Half of $14.375 is about $7.19. So, the overtime pay would be 8 hours (overtime) times $7.19, which comes out to $57.52.

To get their final paycheck, you add this overtime pay to their straight-time pay. So, $690 (straight-time pay) plus $57.52 (overtime pay) equals $747.52. As a business owner, using the weighted average method to calculate the overtime rate, you'd be paying out $747.52 for this employee's week of work, including their overtime.

Additionally, if you pay for travel time that isn't  required  to be paid (like commuting), you  can't count them as hours worked  for overtime purposes.

Travel Time Pay Best Practices

Handling travel pay can be complex and difficult at first. But it doesn't have to be! Use these best practices to simplify paying your employees for working on the go.

Create a Travel Policy

If your small business sends employees to different locations, you need to establish a written travel policy—and include it in your employee handbook. 

Your travel policy should outline which situations result in compensable travel time (like attending conferences or visiting different job sites), as well as any exclusions where employees won't be compensated (like an employee's regular commute or traveling as a passenger on non-working days).

If you pay a different hourly rate for time spent traveling, make sure to include it in your policy. Then, have employees sign the policy to acknowledge they understand it and agree to its terms—and then add the signed document to their employee file.

Track Hours Traveled

As a small business owner, you need to track employee travel time to follow  labor laws  and make sure their paychecks are accurate. 

Though you can ask employees to record and document the time they spend traveling—which can help you make sure your records are accurate—the responsibility for doing so is ultimately on you.

Pay for or Reimburse Travel Expenses

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) doesn't require you to pay for your employee's travel expenses.

Still, if you're sending your employees out of town, you  should  pay for the cost of travel—like tickets and lodging. 

If you don't, your employees are almost guaranteed to get frustrated that they have to pay for expenses out of pocket—and that frustration could lead to issues with employee engagement and retention.

When writing your travel policy, outline which travel expenses your company covers. If you expect employees to front some or all of the travel expenses, detail your procedure for requesting reimbursement and how to track expenses (like mileage or airfare).

You might also want to provide some form of  per diem  or stipend that helps employees pay for small travel expenses, like food. 

This can either be an allowance per meal period (like $15 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, and $40 for dinner) or a specific amount that the employee can use throughout the trip (like $50 per day or $150 for the weekend). Have your employees save and submit their receipts to avoid taxation. You can also consider a company card to lessen the burden on your team's bank account.

Check With Your State's Laws

In addition to federal law, some state laws apply additional regulations to travel time. This means rules can vary based on the state you operate in. For example,  compensable work time  in California includes riding as a passenger in a vehicle when traveling for work.

But which set of employment laws should you follow? You should apply the set of rules that provide the highest payment to your employees. So, if your state regulations specify that certain activities qualify as compensable—even if the FLSA does not—you need to pay for time spent traveling.

(For guidance about your state's specific laws and guidelines, contact your  state's Department of Labor  and local  Wage and Hour Division .)

FAQs About Travel Time Pay for Hourly Employees

Do remote/hybrid workers qualify for travel pay.

A  remote or hybrid worker  qualifies for travel pay when you require them to travel to your place of business or another venue (like a conference hall, training facility, or client location) and they:

• Live far away from the regular worksite (requiring an overnight stay or significant travel time)
• Are only expected to work on-site by request or on a day they're not normally required to be on-site

However, remote/hybrid workers  aren't  entitled to travel pay when:

• Your policy specifies that both an employee's home/remote office and your office are considered primary work locations
• They are expected to work on-location on certain days
• The time spent traveling to the office is considered an employee's commute (even if they are a remote or hybrid worker)

Do employees who drive/travel as part of their job qualify for travel pay?

The  FLSA requires  you to pay employees their regular hourly wages when they are driving or traveling as part of their job responsibilities. For example, bus or delivery drivers should be paid their regular wages while on the job.

Compensating Your Employees for Traveling Doesn't Need to Be Difficult

Traveling for business can take a toll—both on the road and off. Paying travel time for hourly employees can incentivize them to hit the road when necessary and make up for the time they spend away from their families and lives. 

Once you've determined which employees qualify for travel time pay, implement a clear travel policy (that adheres to state and federal law) and use management tools (like  Hourly !) to maintain accurate records and compensate your employees for time spent traveling.

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WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Revised July 2008

This fact sheet provides general information concerning what constitutes compensable time under the FLSA . The Act requires that employees must receive at least the minimum wage and may not be employed for more than 40 hours in a week without receiving at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for the overtime hours. The amount employees should receive cannot be determined without knowing the number of hours worked.

Definition of "Employ"

By statutory definition the term "employ" includes "to suffer or permit to work." The workweek ordinarily includes all time during which an employee is necessarily required to be on the employer's premises, on duty or at a prescribed work place. "Workday", in general, means the period between the time on any particular day when such employee commences his/her "principal activity" and the time on that day at which he/she ceases such principal activity or activities. The workday may therefore be longer than the employee's scheduled shift, hours, tour of duty, or production line time.

Application of Principles

Employees "Suffered or Permitted" to work: Work not requested but suffered or permitted to be performed is work time that must be paid for by the employer. For example, an employee may voluntarily continue to work at the end of the shift to finish an assigned task or to correct errors. The reason is immaterial. The hours are work time and are compensable.

Waiting Time:

Whether waiting time is hours worked under the Act depends upon the particular circumstances. Generally, the facts may show that the employee was engaged to wait (which is work time) or the facts may show that the employee was waiting to be engaged (which is not work time). For example, a secretary who reads a book while waiting for dictation or a fireman who plays checkers while waiting for an alarm is working during such periods of inactivity. These employees have been "engaged to wait."

On-Call Time:

An employee who is required to remain on call on the employer's premises is working while "on call." An employee who is required to remain on call at home, or who is allowed to leave a message where he/she can be reached, is not working (in most cases) while on call. Additional constraints on the employee's freedom could require this time to be compensated.

Rest and Meal Periods:

Rest periods of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are common in industry (and promote the efficiency of the employee) and are customarily paid for as working time. These short periods must be counted as hours worked. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that the authorized break may only last for a specific length of time, that any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules, and any extension of the break will be punished. Bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be compensated as work time. The employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating regular meals. The employee is not relieved if he/she is required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.

Sleeping Time and Certain Other Activities:

An employee who is required to be on duty for less than 24 hours is working even though he/she is permitted to sleep or engage in other personal activities when not busy. An employee required to be on duty for 24 hours or more may agree with the employer to exclude from hours worked bona fide regularly scheduled sleeping periods of not more than 8 hours, provided adequate sleeping facilities are furnished by the employer and the employee can usually enjoy an uninterrupted night's sleep. No reduction is permitted unless at least 5 hours of sleep is taken.

Lectures, Meetings and Training Programs:

Attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs and similar activities need not be counted as working time only if four criteria are met, namely: it is outside normal hours, it is voluntary, not job related, and no other work is concurrently performed.

Travel Time:

The principles which apply in determining whether time spent in travel is compensable time depends upon the kind of travel involved.

Home to Work Travel:

An employee who travels from home before the regular workday and returns to his/her home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home to work travel, which is not work time.

Home to Work on a Special One Day Assignment in Another City:

An employee who regularly works at a fixed location in one city is given a special one day assignment in another city and returns home the same day. The time spent in traveling to and returning from the other city is work time, except that the employer may deduct/not count that time the employee would normally spend commuting to the regular work site.

Travel That is All in a Day's Work:

Time spent by an employee in travel as part of their principal activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, is work time and must be counted as hours worked.

Travel Away from Home Community:

Travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight is travel away from home. Travel away from home is clearly work time when it cuts across the employee's workday. The time is not only hours worked on regular working days during normal working hours but also during corresponding hours on nonworking days. As an enforcement policy the Division will not consider as work time that time spent in travel away from home outside of regular working hours as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus, or automobile.

Typical Problems

Problems arise when employers fail to recognize and count certain hours worked as compensable hours. For example, an employee who remains at his/her desk while eating lunch and regularly answers the telephone and refers callers is working. This time must be counted and paid as compensable hours worked because the employee has not been completely relieved from duty.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

For additional information, visit our Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd and/or call our toll-free information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

This publication is for general information and is not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position contained in the regulations.

The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.

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Travel time as hours of work, applicability.

This information applies to GS, FP, and FWS EXEMPT and NONEXEMPT employees.

When is Travel Compensable

Time in a travel status away from the official duty station is compensable for EXEMPT and NONEXEMPT employees when the travel is performed within the regularly scheduled administrative workweek, including regularly scheduled overtime. In addition, travel is compensable for both categories of employees for purposes of meeting the daily and weekly overtime standards when it:

• Involves the performance of work while traveling, (e.g., as a chauffeur or courier);
• Is incident to work performed while traveling (e.g., a courier's travel relative to the spot where further travel to deliver a diplomatic pouch would begin);
• Is carried out under such arduous and unusual conditions that the travel is inseparable from work; or
• Results from an event which could not be scheduled or controlled administratively, including travel by an employee to such an event and the employee's return from such an event to his or her official duty station.

For a NONEXEMPT employee, travel meeting the weekly overtime standard (but not the daily overtime standard) also includes:

• Travel as a passenger on an overnight assignment during hours on nonworkdays which correspond to regular working hours; and
• One-day travel as a passenger to and from a temporary duty station (not including travel between home and the employee's normal duty station).

Who Makes the Determination

Officials to whom authority has been delegated to authorize or approve travel on official business are responsible for determining whether travel outside the regularly scheduled workweek meets any of the conditions for hours of work.

How Much Travel Time is Creditable For Pay

When travel outside the normal workweek constitutes hours of work, the following rules will apply in determining the amount of time in a travel status that is deemed hours of work for premium pay:

When is an employee in travel status . An employee is in a travel status only for those hours actually traveling between the official duty station and the point of destination, or between two temporary duty points, and the usual waiting time which interrupts travel.

When traveling by common carrier . Time in a travel status begins with the scheduled time of departure from the common carrier terminal, and ends upon arrival at the common carrier terminal located at the destination. However, when the employee spends 1 hour or more in travel between the common carrier terminal and place of business or residence, then the entire time traveling between the carrier terminal and place of business or residence (that is actual time traveling, exclusive of waiting time at the terminal prior to the scheduled departure time) counts as hours of work.

Waiting time . Usual waiting time between segments of a trip or at common carrier terminals counts as worktime for premium pay (up to 3 hours in unusually adverse circumstances, e.g., holiday air traffic, severe weather) provided travel away from the duty station is compensable because it meets any of the conditions of this Section.

Authority to Order Noncompensable Travel

Congress has not provided a remedy whereby an EXEMPT employee who performs official but noncompensable hours of travel may be compensated (57 Comp. Gen. 43, 50, 1977). A manager does, however, have the authority to schedule official travel that is noncompensable. As a requirement of 5 CFR 610.123, the manager must record the reasons for ordering such travel in a memo to be filed with the employee's Time and Attendance Report (T&A). A copy of the memo must be given the employee if the employee requests it.

Work performed while traveling . In order to meet the intent of the law as defined in the majority of Comptroller General decisions, work performed while traveling must be work which is inherent in the employee's job and which can only be performed while traveling, e.g., chauffeuring, hurricane reconnaissance performed aboard a plane flying into the eye of the hurricane, etc. Discretionary work such as review of a scientific presentation by a scientist or treaty papers by a foreign service officer enroute to a meeting is work which could be performed in an office independently of travel and does not satisfy the definition of work while traveling and is, therefore, not compensable for purposes of overtime. (B-146288, January 3, 1975)

Work incident to work performed while traveling . Travel which is incident to work performed while traveling must also meet the definition of "work performed while traveling" above. Travel which is necessary to meet another mode of travel is compensable for overtime purposes if the traveler performs work while traveling which is an inherent part of the job and which could only be performed while traveling, for example, a motor vehicle operator who is ordered to travel by plane in order to take responsibility for a truck which he or she is then to deliver to its permanent location (57 Comp. Gen. 43 (1977), or a courier who travels to pick up and deliver a pouch (B-178458, dated June 22, 1973). Travel and incidental transport of files is not within the definition since the transportation of files is work not inherent in the job (B-181632, dated April 1, 1975).

Travel under arduous conditions . Arduous means more than the inconvenience associated with long travel delays, unbroken travel, unpleasant weather, or bad roads. Prolonged travel in heavy blowing snow which makes driving difficult but stops short of endangering the employee might be considered arduous. A distinction must be made between travel which is arduous and travel which is hazardous duty. Each case must be judged on its own merits (B-193623,

July 23, 1979).

Travel resulting from an event which could not be administratively scheduled or controlled . An event that cannot be administratively scheduled or controlled implies immediate official necessity for travel. If it is discretionary when the employee begins travel, not including the minimum necessary time to make travel arrangements, the notion of immediate necessity which is implied by an event that could not be scheduled or controlled is lacking and the intent of the law as defined by the General Accounting Office is not satisfied. Therefore, time spent in such travel would not be compensable for overtime purposes

(B-186005, August 31, 1976).

Within the agency's administrative control . Whether the scheduling or timing of the event that precipitates an employee's travel was within the administrative control of the agency is strictly interpreted in decisions of the Comptroller General (CG). Travel on overtime to and from a meeting arranged at the discretion of two Federal agencies is not compensable since agencies have it within their power to ensure that the employee travels during work time (B-146288, January 3, 1975 et alia).

For the same reason, travel to and from training which is conducted by the government, under government contract or by a private institution solely for the benefit* of the government is not compensable since the government has it within its power to ensure that the start and end times of such training allow the employee to travel on work time (B-190494, May 8, 1978; also, 66 CG 620, 1987).

*In William A. Lewis et al, 69 CG 545 (1990). The CG ruled travel on overtime to and from training that is given by a private institution is compensable because government cannot control the private institution or its scheduling of the course. The Lewis opinion further held that the notion of "immediate official necessity for travel" which prior CG decisions have held must be present in travel which responds to an event that is not schedulable or controllable was established by the start time of the class. To be present when the class began, the employees had to travel on Sunday.

NOTE : The regulations which govern training time which is compensable as overtime and travel to and from training are separate and distinct. The circumstances under which premium pay may be paid while an individual is in training are covered in the section titled Premium Pay and Training.

Meeting abroad - a matter of accommodation . An employee's claim for overtime compensation for travel overseas to be present at the opening of a conference with representatives of a foreign government was disallowed. Although the employee's agency indirectly scheduled the meeting through the USAID Mission, the Comptroller General ruled the lack of governmental control envisioned by law and regulation for travel on overtime to be deemed compensable was not present. (Gerald C. Holst, B-202694, January 4, 1982; and B-222700, dated October 17, 1986).

NOTE : The Lewis decision (see discussion above) precipitated a review of CG decisions with the result that government control of events was sufficient to validate all previous decisions except one: Gerald C. Holst, was overruled. In overruling the 1986 decision, the Comptroller General found the agency to lack control of the scheduling of the meeting to an appreciable degree. Further, the start time of the opening conference established the immediate official necessity for travel. Travel, was, therefore, compensable.

Failure to plan . An employee who travels outside his or her normal tour of duty to perform maintenance on equipment so that the equipment can perform necessary functions in accordance with operational deadlines is not performing compensable travel if the maintenance responds to gradual deterioration which could have been prevented if maintenance was scheduled on a timely basis (49 Comp. Gen. 209, 1969).

Two-day per diem rule . An employee may be required to travel on his or her own time if in order to allow the employee to travel during working hours, the agency would be required to pay two days or more per diem. However, the two-day per diem rule does not of itself support an entitlement to overtime compensation for the employee. To be compensable at the overtime rate, travel must respond to an event that could not be scheduled or controlled administratively and there must be an immediate official necessity for the travel to be performed outside the employee's regular duty hours (60 Comp. Gen. 681, 1981).

Return travel . When an employee performs compensable overtime by traveling to an event which could not be controlled or scheduled, he or she is automatically eligible for compensation for return travel to his or her duty station.

Disparity in hours of work means disparate overtime entitlement . Because FLSA provides two situations in which a NONEXEMPT employee, but not an EXEMPT employee, can be paid for travel on overtime hours, (specifically, during hours on nonworkdays which correspond to regular working hours and for one-day travel as a passenger to and from a temporary duty station), it is possible for a NONEXEMPT employee to be paid for travel when an EXEMPT employee in the same situation is ineligible for overtime pay.

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Get Paid To Travel: 5 Ways To Travel While Making Money

G etting paid to travel might seem like some kind of idyllic fantasy, but it may be more within your reach than you realize. The line between working in travel and getting paid to vacation is a thin one, but there are a few creative ways to get paid to travel. While there’s still no such thing as a free lunch, these opportunities offer the best chance to see the world while earning some dough in the process.

Read: What To Do If You Owe Back Taxes to the IRS

Get Paid To Travel: 5 Best Ways

Sometimes daily work can be difficult, but when the globe is your office, you may feel like you never worked a day in your life. Here are five amazing ways to get paid to travel:

• Work as a travel blogger
• Teach English
• Become a social media influencer
• Work on a cruise ship
• Organize a group trip

Whether you enlist in a full-time travel job or are just looking to do some traveling long-term, you can play to your strengths on the road and get paid to travel the world.

1. Work as a Travel Blogger

If you have skills with a camera or the written word, you can look into how to publish some of the blog posts you create as a digital nomad. Not only can you earn money by following your passion for travel blogging but you could also get access to some top-of-the-line VIP packages offered by hotels and resorts across the world. 

You can start by researching companies that align with the style of your content. Try to reach out in a personal way — generic contact forms are great but they don’t usually set you up for a payday success.

2. Teach English

Becoming an English teacher abroad is another way to earn a salary while immersed in a foreign culture. If you don’t mind public speaking and are confident in your communication skills, the fastest route to a teaching job is obtaining a certificate. Look for one of the following programs:

• Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)
• Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL)

These certificates can be obtained by taking a short course. Here are some key takeaways to know:

• Although you can teach with a basic certificate, to earn a professional accreditation, you’ll need to complete at least 100 hours of in-class instruction as well as 6-20 hours of live classroom practice. Getting an accreditation will help you get more opportunities and higher pay.
• There are other teacher preparation certifications, but TESL/TEFL are the most universally recognized and accepted around the world.
• You should also expect to invest anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a basic certificate to a few thousand for a complete certification.
• For your time investment, a complete certificate can take up to a year to complete. 
• When you’re considering what country to teach in, make sure to take into account the salary expectations. You should compare this to the local cost of living, which can vary widely by region. 

3. Become a Social Media Influencer

This one might be easier said than done. Influencers typically have thousands of social media followers, primarily on Instagram or YouTube. Tourist destinations and hotels often court them with free travel, with the expectation that they’ll share their experiences with their audience. Here are some things to consider:

• For influencers with large followings , these brands will also pay for content creation on top of providing free travel. 
• You can partake in affiliate marketing to post links to booking websites, hotels and more. Doing this will get you paid directly from companies for your experience and audience reach.
• Individual rates for sponsored posts vary dramatically. If your favorite Instagrammer has 100,000 followers, you can expect they’re making in the neighborhood of $800 to $1,000 per sponsored photo. On the other hand, someone with fewer than 1,000 followers is likely to earn $100 or less. 
• It may sound like easy money, but it can be hard work. Photographers and content creators can spend hours setting up and editing the perfect shot or video. There is also a lot of effort that goes into writing blogs and graphic design to further engage audiences.

4. Work on a Cruise Ship

What jobs will pay you to travel the world? Many jobs in the travel industry will have you constantly on the go, but cruise ships have one of the lowest barriers to entry. It’s a great job if your goal is to see the world for free.

Here are some key takeaways to know about working on a cruise ship:

• Once hired, employees typically complete training courses for up to 13 weeks that cover various aspects of crew life, including safety and customer service.
• Contracts generally last for up to nine months, with the option of taking a six- to eight-week break during that time.
• Crew members also get time off between cruises, and often have the opportunity to visit different ports or enjoy crew-only amenities on the ship.
• Pay starts at an average of $24 per hour, with many crew members earning significantly more when gratuities are factored in.

5. Organize a Group Trip

While travel agents have become an underappreciated profession, they’re still out there offering valuable travel tips and more. For anyone interested in a job in the field, a great way to dip your toes in the water is to plan a group trip for your circle of friends. Here’s how to start:

• Some tour companies will discount your trip as the leader if you get a certain number of friends to register with you. 
• The best of the bunch will actually comp your trip and pay you a commission on top of that. 

Get Paid To Transport Goods While on a Trip One way to travel while making cash that’s gaining in popularity is transporting items along the way. Grabr, a peer-to-peer marketplace, connects travelers with shoppers looking to acquire items abroad or items that are too expensive to ship. Users make requests for specific products they want and anyone traveling to that country can accept the job. Earnings will vary depending on what you’re transporting and how far, of course.

Final Take To GO 

There are many options if you want to travel but also want to get paid. If you are about to embark on a trip anyway make sure to research what part-time or full-time money-making opportunities are out there.

• Virtual assistant for varying companies
• House sitting abroad
• Social media influencing
• Working on a cruise ship
• Yes, you can win trips to travel if you know where to look. For example, being a brand ambassador and enticing new users to opt into email lists are important for the travel industry, and trip giveaways are a popular way to do so. While there are usually different entry requirements and prizes, at the most basic level, there are two different types: sweepstakes and contests. Sweepstakes are random drawings, whereas contests are skill-based, often focused on writing, video or photography.
• Though they technically don't pay, exchange programs are a great way to see the world without having to pay for airfare, room and board or local transportation.
• If you are a travel blogger or social media influencer, certain hotels or tourist destinations will pay you to travel to visit them. In exchange for the trip, you will have to document your trip and promote the services to your followers.

Lauren Monitz  and Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.

Information is accurate as of Aug. 24, 2023. 

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Get Paid To Travel: 5 Ways To Travel While Making Money

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Compensatory Time Off for Travel - Questions & Answers to Fact Sheet

• Q1. What is compensatory time off for travel? View more A. Compensatory time off for travel is a separate form of compensatory time off that may be earned by an employee for time spent in a travel status away from the employee's official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable.
• Q2. Are all employees covered by this provision? View more A. The compensatory time off provision applies to an "employee" as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5541(2) who is employed in an "Executive agency" as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, without regard to whether the employee is exempt from or covered by the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended. For example, this includes employees in senior-level (SL) and scientific or professional (ST) positions, but not members of the Senior Executive Service or Senior Foreign Service or Foreign Service officers. Effective April 27, 2008, prevailing rate (wage) employees are covered under the compensatory time off for travel provision. (See CPM 2008-04 .)
• Q3. Are intermittent employees eligible to earn compensatory time off for travel? View more A. No. Compensatory time off for travel may be used by an employee when the employee is granted time off from his or her scheduled tour of duty established for leave purposes. (See 5 CFR 550.1406(b).) Also see the definition of "scheduled tour of duty for leave purposes" in 5 CFR 550.1403. Employees who are on intermittent work schedules are not eligible to earn and use compensatory time off for travel because they do not have a scheduled tour of duty for leave purposes.
• Q4. What qualifies as travel for the purpose of this provision? View more A. To qualify for this purpose, travel must be officially authorized. In other words, travel must be for work purposes and must be approved by an authorized agency official or otherwise authorized under established agency policies. (Also see Q5.)
• Q5. May an employee earn compensatory time off when he or she travels in conjunction with the performance of union representational duties? View more A. No. The term "travel" is defined at 5 CFR 550.1403 to mean officially authorized travel—i.e., travel for work purposes approved by an authorized agency official or otherwise authorized under established agency policies. The definition specifically excludes time spent traveling in connection with union activities. The term "travel for work purposes" is intended to mean travel for agency-related work purposes. Thus, employees who travel in connection with union activities are not entitled to earn compensatory time off for travel because they are traveling for the benefit of the union, and not for agency-related work purposes.
• Q6. An employee receives compensatory time off for travel only for those hours spent in a travel status. What qualifies as time in a travel status? View more A. Travel status includes only the time actually spent traveling between the official duty station and a temporary duty station, or between two temporary duty stations, and the usual waiting time that precedes or interrupts such travel.
• Q7. Is travel in connection with a permanent change of station (PCS) creditable for compensatory time off for travel? View more A. Although PCS travel is officially authorized travel, it is not travel between an official duty station and a temporary duty station or between two temporary duty stations. Therefore, it is not considered time in a travel status for the purpose of earning compensatory time off for travel.
• Q8. What is meant by "usual waiting time"? View more A. Airline travelers generally are required to arrive at the airport at a designated pre-departure time (e.g., 1 or 2 hours before the scheduled departure, depending on whether the flight is domestic or international). Such waiting time at the airport is considered usual waiting time and is creditable time in a travel status. In addition, time spent at an intervening airport waiting for a connecting flight (e.g., 1 or 2 hours) also is creditable time in a travel status. In all cases, determinations regarding what is creditable as "usual waiting time" are within the sole and exclusive discretion of the employing agency.
• Q9. What if an employee experiences an "extended" waiting period? View more A. If an employee experiences an unusually long wait prior to his or her initial departure or between actual periods of travel during which the employee is free to rest, sleep, or otherwise use the time for his or her own purposes, the extended waiting time outside the employee's regular working hours is not creditable time in a travel status. An extended waiting period that occurs during an employee's regular working hours is compensable as part of the employee's regularly scheduled administrative workweek.
• Q10. Do meal periods count as time in a travel status? View more A. Meal periods during actual travel time or waiting time are not specifically excluded from creditable time in a travel status for the purpose of earning compensatory time off for travel. However, determinations regarding what is creditable as "usual waiting time" are within the sole and exclusive discretion of the employing agency.
• Q11. What happens once an employee reaches a temporary duty station? View more A. Time spent at a temporary duty station between arrival and departure is not creditable travel time for the purpose of earning compensatory time off for travel. Time in a travel status ends when the employee arrives at the temporary duty worksite or his or her lodging in the temporary duty station, wherever the employee arrives first. Time in a travel status resumes when an employee departs from the temporary duty worksite or his or her lodging in the temporary duty station, wherever the employee departs last.
• Q12. When is it appropriate for an agency to offset creditable time in a travel status by the amount of time the employee spends in normal commuting between home and work? View more A. If an employee travels directly between his or her home and a temporary duty station outside the limits of the employee's official duty station (e.g., driving to and from a 3-day conference), the agency must deduct the employee's normal home-to-work/work-to-home commuting time from the creditable travel time. The agency must also deduct an employee's normal commuting time from the creditable travel time if the employee is required—outside of regular working hours—to travel between home and a transportation terminal (e.g., an airport or train station) outside the limits of the employee's official duty station.
• Q13. What if an employee travels to a transportation terminal within the limits of his or her official duty station? View more A. An employee's time spent traveling outside of regular working hours to or from a transportation terminal within the limits of his or her official duty station is considered equivalent to commuting time and is not creditable time in a travel status for the purpose of earning compensatory time off for travel.
• Q14. What if an employee travels from a worksite to a transportation terminal? View more A. If an employee travels between a worksite and a transportation terminal, the travel time outside regular working hours is creditable as time in a travel status, and no commuting time offset applies. For example, after completing his or her workday, an employee may travel directly from the regular worksite to an airport to attend an out-of-town meeting the following morning. The travel time between the regular worksite and the airport is creditable as time in a travel status.
• Q15. What if an employee elects to travel at a time other than the time selected by the agency? View more A. When an employee travels at a time other than the time selected by the agency, the agency must determine the estimated amount of time in a travel status the employee would have had if the employee had traveled at the time selected by the agency. The agency must credit the employee with the lesser of (1) the estimated time in a travel status the employee would have had if the employee had traveled at the time selected by the agency, or (2) the employee's actual time in a travel status at a time other than that selected by the agency.
• Q16. How is an employee's travel time calculated for the purpose of earning compensatory time off for travel when the travel involves two or more time zones? View more A. When an employee's travel involves two or more time zones, the time zone from point of first departure must be used to determine how many hours the employee actually spent in a travel status for the purpose of accruing compensatory time off for travel. For example, if an employee travels from his official duty station in Washington, DC, to a temporary duty station in San Francisco, CA, the Washington, DC, time zone must be used to determine how many hours the employee spent in a travel status. However, on the return trip to Washington, DC, the time zone from San Francisco, CA, must be used to calculate how many hours the employee spent in a travel status.
• Q17. How is compensatory time off for travel earned and credited? View more A. Compensatory time off for travel is earned for qualifying time in a travel status. Agencies may authorize credit in increments of one-tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or one-quarter of an hour (15 minutes). Agencies must track and manage compensatory time off for travel separately from other forms of compensatory time off.
• Q18. Is there a limitation on the amount of compensatory time off for travel an employee may earn? View more A. No.
• Q19. How does an employee request credit for compensatory time off for travel? View more A. Agencies may establish procedures for requesting credit for compensatory time off for travel. An employee must comply with his or her agency's procedures for requesting credit of compensatory time off, and the employee must file a request for such credit within the time period established by the agency. An employee's request for credit of compensatory time off for travel may be denied if the request is not filed within the time period required by the agency.
• Q20. Is there a form employees must fill out for requests to earn or use compensatory time off for travel? View more A. There is not a Governmentwide form used for requests to earn or use compensatory time off for travel. However, an agency may choose to develop a form as part of its internal policies and procedures.
• Q21. How does an employee use accrued compensatory time off for travel? View more A. An employee must request permission from his or her supervisor to schedule the use of his or her accrued compensatory time off for travel in accordance with agency policies and procedures. Compensatory time off for travel may be used when the employee is granted time off from his or her scheduled tour of duty established for leave purposes. Employees must use accrued compensatory time off for travel in increments of one-tenth of an hour (6 minutes) or one-quarter of an hour (15 minutes).
• Q22. In what order should agencies charge compensatory time off for travel? View more A. Agencies must charge compensatory time off for travel in the chronological order in which it was earned, with compensatory time off for travel earned first being charged first.
• Q23. How long does an employee have to use accrued compensatory time off for travel? View more A. An employee must use his or her accrued compensatory time off for travel by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period during which it was earned or the employee must forfeit such compensatory time off, except in certain circumstances. (See Q24 and Q25 for exceptions.)
• Q24. What if an employee is unable to use his or her accrued compensatory time off for travel because of uniformed service or an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury compensation? View more A. Unused compensatory time off for travel will be held in abeyance for an employee who separates, or is placed in a leave without pay status, and later returns following (1) separation or leave without pay to perform service in the uniformed services (as defined in 38 U.S.C. 4303 and 5 CFR 353.102) and a return to service through the exercise of a reemployment right or (2) separation or leave without pay due to an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury compensation under 5 U.S.C. chapter 81. The employee must use all of the compensatory time off for travel held in abeyance by the end of the 26th pay period following the pay period in which the employee returns to duty, or such compensatory time off for travel will be forfeited.
• Q25. What if an employee is unable to use his or her accrued compensatory time off for travel because of an exigency of the service beyond the employee's control? View more A. If an employee fails to use his or her accrued compensatory time off for travel before the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period during which it was earned due to an exigency of the service beyond the employee's control, the head of an agency, at his or her sole and exclusive discretion, may extend the time limit for up to an additional 26 pay periods.
• Q26. May unused compensatory time off for travel be restored if an employee does not use it by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period during which it was earned? View more A. Except in certain circumstances (see Q24 and Q25), any compensatory time off for travel not used by the end of the 26th pay period after the pay period during which it was earned must be forfeited.
• Q27. What happens to an employee's unused compensatory time off for travel upon separation from Federal service? View more A. Except in certain circumstances (see Q24), an employee must forfeit all unused compensatory time off for travel upon separation from Federal service.
• Q28. May an employee receive a lump-sum payment for accrued compensatory time off for travel upon separation from an agency? View more A. No. The law prohibits payment for unused compensatory time off for travel under any circumstances.
• Q29. What happens to an employee's accrued compensatory time off for travel upon transfer to another agency? View more A. When an employee voluntarily transfers to another agency (including a promotion or change to lower grade action), the employee must forfeit all of his or her unused compensatory time off for travel.
• Q30. What happens to an employee's accrued compensatory time off for travel when the employee moves to a position that is not covered by the regulations in 5 CFR part 550, subpart N? View more A. When an employee moves to a position in an agency not covered by the compensatory time off for travel provisions (e.g., the United States Postal Service), the employee must forfeit all of his or her unused compensatory time off for travel. However, the gaining agency may use its own legal authority to give the employee credit for such compensatory time off.
• Q31. Is compensatory time off for travel considered in applying the premium pay and aggregate pay caps? View more A. No. Compensatory time off for travel may not be considered in applying the biweekly or annual premium pay limitations established under 5 U.S.C. 5547 or the aggregate limitation on pay established under 5 U.S.C. 5307.
• Q32. When are criminal investigators who receive availability pay precluded from earning compensatory time off for travel? View more A. Compensatory time off for travel is earned only for hours not otherwise compensable. The term "compensable" is defined at 5 CFR 550.1403 to include any hours of a type creditable under other compensation provisions, even if there are compensation caps limiting the payment of premium pay for those hours (e.g., the 25 percent cap on availability pay and the biweekly premium pay cap). For availability pay recipients, this means hours of travel are not creditable as time in a travel status for compensatory time off purposes if the hours are (1) compensated by basic pay, (2) regularly scheduled overtime hours creditable under 5 U.S.C. 5542, or (3) "unscheduled duty hours" as described in 5 CFR 550.182(a), (c), and (d).
• Q33. What constitutes "unscheduled duty hours" as described in 5 CFR 550.182(a), (c), and (d)? View more A. Under the availability pay regulations, unscheduled duty hours include (1) all irregular overtime hours—i.e., overtime work not scheduled in advance of the employee's administrative workweek, (2) the first 2 overtime hours on any day containing part of the employee's basic 40-hour workweek, without regard to whether the hours are unscheduled or regularly scheduled, and (3) any approved nonwork availability hours. However, special agents in the Diplomatic Security Service of the Department of State may count only hours actually worked as unscheduled duty hours.
• Q34. Why are criminal investigators who receive availability pay precluded from earning compensatory time off when they travel during unscheduled duty hours? View more A. The purpose of availability pay is to ensure the availability of criminal investigators (and certain similar law enforcement employees) for unscheduled duty in excess of a 40-hour workweek based on the needs of the employing agency. Availability pay compensates an employee for all unscheduled duty hours. Compensatory time off for travel is earned only for hours not otherwise compensable. Thus, availability pay recipients may not earn compensatory time off for travel during unscheduled duty hours because the employees are entitled to availability pay for those hours.

A. When an employee who receives availability pay is required to travel on a non-workday or on a regular workday (during hours that exceed the employee's basic 8-hour workday), and the travel does not meet one of the four criteria in 5 U.S.C. 5542(b)(2)(B) and 5 CFR 550.112(g)(2), the travel time is not compensable as overtime hours of work under regular overtime or availability pay. Thus, the employee may earn compensatory time off for such travel, subject to the exclusion specified in 5 CFR 550.1404(b)(2) and the requirements in 5 CFR 550.1404(c),(d), and (e).

Under the provisions in 5 U.S.C. 5542(b)(2)(B) and 5 CFR 550.112(g)(2), travel time is compensable as overtime hours of work if the travel is away from the employee's official duty station and—

(i) involves the performance of work while traveling, (ii) is incident to travel that involves the performance of work while traveling, (iii) is carried out under arduous conditions, or (iv) results from an event which could not be scheduled or controlled administratively.

The phrase "an event which could not be scheduled or controlled administratively" refers to the ability of an agency in the Executive Branch of the United States Government to control the scheduling of an event which necessitates an employee's travel. If the employing agency or another Executive Branch agency has any control over the scheduling of the event, including by means of approval of a contract for it, then the event is administratively controllable, and the travel to and from the event cannot be credited as overtime hours of work.

For example, an interagency conference sponsored by the Department of Justice would be considered a joint endeavor of the participating Executive Branch agencies and within their administrative control. Under these circumstances, the travel time outside an employee's regular working hours is not compensable as overtime hours of work under regular overtime or availability pay. Therefore, the employee may earn compensatory time off for such travel, subject to the exclusion specified in 5 CFR 550.1404(b)(2) and the requirements in 5 CFR 550.1404(c), (d), and (e).

• Q36. If an employee is required to travel on a Federal holiday (or an "in lieu of" holiday), is the employee entitled to receive compensatory time off for travel? View more A. Although most employees do not receive holiday premium pay for time spent traveling on a holiday (or an "in lieu of" holiday), an employee continues to be entitled to pay for the holiday in the same manner as if the travel were not required. Thus, an employee may not earn compensatory time off for travel during basic (non-overtime) holiday hours because the employee is entitled to his or her rate of basic pay for those hours. Compensatory time off for travel may be earned by an employee only for time spent in a travel status away from the employee's official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable.
• Q37. If an employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty is Sunday through Thursday and the employee is required to travel on a Sunday during regular working hours, is the employee entitled to earn compensatory time off for travel? View more A. No. Compensatory time off for travel may be earned by an employee only for time spent in a travel status away from the employee's official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable. Thus, an employee may not earn compensatory time off for travel for traveling on a workday during regular working hours because the employee is receiving his or her rate of basic pay for those hours.
• Q38. May an agency change an employee's work schedule for travel purposes? View more A. An agency may not adjust the regularly scheduled administrative workweek that normally applies to an employee (part-time or full-time) solely for the purpose of including planned travel time not otherwise considered compensable hours of work. However, an employee is entitled to earn compensatory time off for travel for time spent in a travel status when such time is not otherwise compensable.
• Q39. Is time spent traveling creditable as credit hours for an employee who is authorized to earn credit hours under an alternative work schedule? View more A. Credit hours are hours an employee elects to work, with supervisory approval, in excess of the employee's basic work requirement under a flexible work schedule. Under certain conditions, an agency may permit an employee to earn credit hours by performing productive and essential work while in a travel status. See OPM's fact sheet on credit hours  for the conditions that must be met. If those conditions are met and the employee does earn credit hours for travel, the time spent traveling would be compensable and the employee would not be eligible to earn compensatory time off for travel. If the conditions are not met, the employee would be eligible to earn compensatory time off for travel.
• Q40. May an agency restore an employee's forfeited "use-or-lose" annual leave because the employee elected to use earned compensatory time off for travel instead of using his or her excess annual leave? View more A. Section 6304(d) of title 5, United States Code, prescribes the conditions under which an employee's forfeited annual leave may be restored to an employee. (See fact sheet on restoration of annual leave .) There is no legal authority to restore an employee's forfeited annual leave because the employee elected to use earned compensatory time off for travel instead of using his or her excess annual leave.

A. No. Compensatory time off for travel may be earned by an employee only for time spent in a travel status away from the employee's official duty station when such time is not otherwise compensable. The term "compensable" is defined at 5 CFR 550.1403 to make clear what periods of time are "not otherwise compensable" and thus potentially creditable for the purpose of earning compensatory time off for travel. Time is considered compensable if the time is creditable as hours of work for the purpose of determining a specific pay entitlement (e.g., overtime pay for travel meeting one of the four criteria in 5 CFR 550.112(g)(2)) even when the time may not actually generate additional compensation because of applicable pay limitations (e.g., biweekly premium pay cap). The capped premium pay is considered complete compensation for all hours of work creditable under the premium pay provisions.

In other words, even though an employee may not receive overtime pay for all of his or her travel hours because of the biweekly premium pay cap, all of the travel time is still considered to be compensable under 5 CFR 550.112(g)(2). Under these circumstances, the employee has been compensated fully under the law for all of the travel hours and the employee may not earn compensatory time off for any portion of such travel not generating additional compensation because of the biweekly cap on premium pay.

• Q42. May an employee who receives administratively uncontrollable overtime (AUO) pay under 5 U.S.C. 5545(c)(2) earn compensatory time off for travel? View more A. If such employee's travel time is not compensable under 5 CFR 550.112(g) or 5 CFR 551.422, as applicable, and meets the requirements in 5 CFR part 550, subpart N, the employee is eligible to earn compensatory time off for travel for time spent in a travel status.
• Q43. If a part-time employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the employee is required to travel on a Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., is the employee entitled to earn compensatory time off for travel for those 2 hours? View more A. It depends. If the travel qualifies as compensable hours of work under 5 U.S.C. 5542(b)(2)(B) and 5 CFR 550.112(g)(2)—i.e., the travel involves or is incident to the performance of actual work, is carried out under arduous and unusual conditions, or results from an event which could not be scheduled or controlled administratively—the employee may not be credited with compensatory time off for travel hours. (Such travel time outside a part-time employee's scheduled tour of duty, but not in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, would be non-overtime hours of work compensated at the employee's rate of basic pay.) If the travel time does not qualify as compensable hours of work and meets the other requirements in 5 CFR part 550, subpart N, the part-time employee would be entitled to earn compensatory time off for those 2 hours. We note travel time is always compensable hours of work if it falls within an employee's regularly scheduled administrative workweek. (See 5 U.S.C. 5542(b)(2)(A) and 5 CFR 550.112(g)(1).) For a part-time employee, the regularly scheduled administrative workweek is defined in 5 CFR 550.103 as the officially prescribed days and hours within an administrative workweek during which the employee was scheduled to work in advance of the workweek. An agency may not adjust the regularly scheduled administrative workweek normally applied to an employee (part-time or full-time) solely for the purpose of including planned travel time otherwise not considered compensable hours of work.
• Q44. Does an upgrade in travel accommodations impact an employee's entitlement to compensatory time off for travel? View more A. Allowing an employee to upgrade his or her travel accommodations (e.g., to business class) does not eliminate his or her eligibility to earn compensatory time off for travel.

• Boeing & Aerospace

Inside SpaceX’s tax-free ride in American airspace

WASHINGTON — Every time a rocket soars into the sky carrying satellites or supplies for the International Space Station, air traffic controllers on the ground must take crucial steps to ensure that commercial and passenger aircraft remain safe.

The controllers, hired by the Federal Aviation Administration, close the airspace, provide real-time information on rockets and their debris and then reopen the airspace quickly after a launch is completed.

But unlike airlines, which pay federal taxes for air traffic controllers’ work each time their planes take off, commercial space companies are not required to pay for their launches. That includes companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has launched more than 300 rockets over the past 15 years that often carried satellites for its Starlink internet service.

The Biden administration is looking to change that. President Joe Biden’s latest budget proposal, released last month, suggests that for-profit space companies start paying for their use of government resources.

Commercial space companies are exempt from aviation excise taxes that fill the coffers of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which pays for the FAA’s work and will get roughly $18 billion in tax revenues for the current fiscal year. The taxes are paid primarily by commercial airlines, which are charged 7.5% of each ticket price and an additional fee of about $5 to $20 per passenger, depending on the destination of each flight.

Biden’s budget proposal vows to work with Congress to overhaul the tax structure and split the cost of operating the nation’s air traffic control system. His promise is based in part on an independent safety review report commissioned by the FAA, which advises that the federal government update the excise taxes to charge commercial space companies.

“Whenever SpaceX launches a flight, it requires massive air traffic control resources to clear the airspace for hours around the launch window,” said David Grizzle, an author of the safety report and the former chief operating officer of the Air Traffic Organization, an agency within the FAA that hires the controllers. “And again, it pays zero.”

SpaceX did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Biden’s call for revising the decades-old excise tax structure is part of his push to make richer Americans and wealthy corporations “pay their fair share.” In his State of the Union speech last month, Biden also called for raising taxes on private and corporate jet users, including increasing the tax they pay on jet fuel to $1.06 per gallon from 21.8 cents per gallon over five years. That tax on fuel currently makes up around 3% of the annual revenue of the trust fund, which depends heavily on what commercial airlines and their passengers pay.

Yet commercial space companies do not contribute to that fund or share any of the cost that the public bears when rockets are launched, said William J. McGee, a former FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher and a senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, a consumer advocacy group.

“This is a question of fundamental fairness,” McGee said. “It would be the equivalent of having a toll system on a highway and waving through certain users and not others.”

Rocket launches are a time-intensive process for the FAA, former air traffic controllers say. The agency has to create a detailed plan outlining the exact airspace to close and reroute planes before a launch. Controllers must also respond quickly if anything goes awry.

“Consider a space launch to be similar to a hurricane making landfall,” said Michael McCormick, a former air traffic controller who worked for the FAA for more than three decades and now teaches at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Hurricanes disrupt plans, shutting down airports and forcing planes to be rerouted. Rocket launches require equally intricate planning from controllers, McCormick said.

“In Florida — which is also one of the densest commercial aviation traffic corridors — you can start to see some very real impacts on the system,” said Michael P. Huerta, who was the FAA administrator during both the Obama and Trump administrations and is the chair of the safety review board that wrote the report. Commercial rockets now fly mostly out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and Cape Canaveral, Fla., near Orlando.

The number of space launches has increased dramatically in recent years, led by SpaceX, which puts dozens of satellites into the Earth’s orbit every month. In recent years, parts of NASA’s missions have also been contracted out to commercial space companies that carry supplies to the International Space Station.

In 2023, the FAA oversaw 117 launches, a significant jump from a decade earlier when there were only 15 flights. More than 30 rockets have been launched so far this year, putting 2024 on pace to surpass last year’s number. The launch count includes U.S. rockets that took off from New Zealand, whose space agency has been regulating launches on its soil with the FAA.

The increase in launches is also prompting the FAA to devote more resources to the oversight and permitting of space activities, which is separate from the work of air traffic controllers. The administration is requesting $57 million for authorizing and licensing for the commercial space industry for the 2025 fiscal year, an increase from the roughly $37 million spent in 2023. The FAA added 33 new employees to its licensing and oversight office for the industry last year.

Commercial space companies reject the Biden administration’s suggestion that they pay aviation taxes. Members of the industry argue that it is still in a nascent stage, when most enterprises struggle to break even. They also point out that rockets need only about 15 seconds to fly through the airspace and that the volume of rocket launches is still negligible compared with around 16 million flights that the FAA handles annually.

Taxing the industry is “not appropriate at this time,” said Karina Drees, the president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, the industry group representing more than 80 companies and universities. “The commercial space industry, in close partnership with its FAA regulator, continues to improve coordination of launch activity and avoid unnecessary impacts to” U.S. airspace.

But Huerta and Grizzle said that Congress should start looking for ways to tax the industry in anticipation of a boom in launches that is already beginning.

More rocket launches are adding pressure to the air traffic control system already marred by inadequate funding, staffing shortages and overworked personnel, the authors of the independent safety report said. Dozens of near-collision events reported last year — in which commercial aircraft came dangerously close to each other — have demonstrated that the FAA’s safety margins have already become thin.

The combination of staffing shortages and insufficient funding for new equipment “presents a perfect storm for more serious events occurring,” Grizzle said. The situation “will only get worse, as the proliferation of new entrants who pay no tax at all” continues.

The FAA said in a statement that the agency is “committed to safely handling rapidly increasing space operations while minimizing disruption to the flying public.”

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Here's who could be responsible for paying for the Baltimore bridge disaster

• The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a container ship collided with it.
• Several entities could be on the hook to foot the bill in the aftermath of the disaster.
• The maritime insurance industry will likely be saddled with the highest costs. 

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed on Tuesday after a large container ship ran into it, leading to six presumed deaths and millions of dollars in possible damage.

It's still too early to estimate the total economic impact of the disaster, but between the cost of rebuilding the decades-old bridge, compensating the victims' families , and paying out damages for disruptions to the supply chain, the eventual cost of the disaster is expected to be significant.

Who will pay to rebuild the bridge?

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the federal government should be responsible for paying to reconstruct the damaged Francis Scott Key Bridge.

"It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect Congress to support my effort," Biden said.

The bridge was built in the 1970s for about $60 million, but the cost of rebuilding it could be 10 times its original price tag, an engineering expert told Sky News. 

Baltimore is among the busiest ports in the nation , with more than a million shipping containers passing through each year. The collapse — which closed the port to all maritime and most road traffic until further notice — is already beginning to wreak havoc on the supply chain.

The cost of building the bridge back fast enough to offset diversions as much as possible could saddle the government with a more than $600 million bill, David MacKenzie, the chair of the engineering and architecture consultancy COWIfonden, told Sky News.

Who will pay for damages to the ship and its cargo?

The container ship, the Dali , is owned by a Singapore-based firm. The ship's charterer, Maersk, confirmed to Business Insider that vessel company Synergy Group operates the ship. 

However, the companies with cargo aboard the Dali could ultimately be responsible for some of the ship's damages and cargo costs, according to Ryan Petersen , the CEO of the supply-chain-logistics company Flexport, which had two containers on the ship.

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The Dali was carrying 330 containers that must now be rerouted, Petersen said in an X thread.

An ancient maritime law known as " general average " dictates that companies with even a single container aboard a ship split certain damages pro rata based on the number of containers they had on board, ensuring all the stakeholders benefiting from the voyage are splitting the risk, Petersen said.

General average situations can occur when a ship is stranded or when cargo is damaged or thrown overboard to save the vessel, according to Flexport . The concept helps ensure that all parties who have a vested interest in the vessel share the cost and concern of protecting it.

It's too soon to know whether damages incurred to free the Dali in the coming days will qualify as a case of general average.

Who will pay for everything else?

The majority of the financial fallout is likely to lay primarily with the insurance industry, according to media reports.

Industry experts told the Financial Times that insurers could pay out losses for bridge damage, port disruption, and any loss of life.

The collapse could drive "one of the largest claims ever to hit the marine (re)insurance market," John Miklus, the president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters, told Insurance Business.

He told the outlet that the loss of revenue from tolls while the bridge is being rebuilt will be expensive, as will any liability claims from deaths or injuries.

The Dali is covered by the Britannia Steam Ship Insurance Association Ltd., known as Britannia P&I Club, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In a statement to Business Insider, Britannia said it was "working closely with the ship manager and relevant authorities to establish the facts and to help ensure that this situation is dealt with quickly and professionally."

Britannia is one of 12 mutual insurers included in the International Group of P&I Clubs, which maintains more than $3 billion of reinsurance cover, sources familiar with the matter told Insurance Business.

Britannia itself is liable for the first $10 million in damages, both FT and Insurance Business reported. Whatever remains is dealt with by the wider mutual insurance group and Lloyd's of London, a reinsurance market in the UK, the FT reported.

Update: March 28, 2024 — This story has been updated to include additional information about general average and clarify that it is too soon to know whether general average will apply in the case of the Dali.

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Solar eclipse 2024: Follow the path of totality

Thinking of taking a last-minute drive to see the eclipse here's what to know.

Geoff Brumfiel

RV traffic sits at a standstill along a two-lane road near Madras, Ore., a few days before the 2017 total solar eclipse. Experts say traffic could be heavy, but eclipse watchers shouldn't necessarily be deterred. AFP Contributor/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

RV traffic sits at a standstill along a two-lane road near Madras, Ore., a few days before the 2017 total solar eclipse. Experts say traffic could be heavy, but eclipse watchers shouldn't necessarily be deterred.

NASA says that roughly 31.6 million people live in the path of this year's total solar eclipse, and a little under half of the U.S. population lives within 200 miles driving distance of the path of totality .

That could mean many millions of Americans will hit the road to get a better view on April 8. If you're still pondering whether or not you want to make the journey, here's what to consider.

Have some destinations in mind, and check the weather and cloud cover forecasts in advance

It's a good idea to scout out one or more locations within driving distance, so that you have some flexibility if traffic or weather is threatening your plans, says Jonathan Upchurch, a professor emeritus of civil engineering at Arizona State University who has studied travel around solar eclipses.

There are several interactive tools that show the path of totality, including Eclipse2024.org and the National Solar Observatory . You can use them to figure out what sites might work best for you.

In terms of weather, check not just the weather forecast, but also the cloud cover forecast. Some websites, such as Windy.com will predict cloud cover ahead of time, giving you a sense of whether you'll actually be able to see the eclipse in all its glory.

Everything you need to know about solar eclipse glasses before April 8

During the total solar eclipse in 2017, Upchurch says he chose to go to Idaho "because there were some great chances of having sunny skies, and I had the opportunity to be nimble and relocate if I wanted to."

Before driving into the path of totality, make sure your gas tank is full and that you've got everything you need

During the last total solar eclipse in 2017, it's estimated some 5 million people took to the roads, and those numbers will potentially be much higher this year.

Given all that, Upchurch says it's important to make sure you're taking what you need into the path of totality. You should make sure your car is gassed or charged up, and that you have plenty of snacks and water with you in case you get stranded for a while, especially when trying to leave.

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Also don't forget to bring eclipse glasses, which must be worn anytime you're looking at the sun, except for the few minutes when it is completely blocked by the moon.

Some state emergency planners also recommend bringing a paper map or road atlas in case cellular networks become overloaded with visitors seeking directions from their phones.

Don't forget your eclipse glasses everyone! Erika Goldring/FilmMagic hide caption

Don't forget your eclipse glasses everyone!

Arrive early and stay late

Once you figure out where you're going to watch the eclipse, and you've got your supplies, try to get there early. Although traffic is likely to be heavier than normal on the morning of eclipse day, it still should be possible to reach many destinations without too much hassle, says Upchurch.

"Leaving is definitely going to be more of a problem," he says. As the eclipse concludes, people will take to the roads all at once to try and get home as fast as they can. In 2017, that led to traffic jams that lasted many hours in some areas. If possible, Upchurch says, people should stay put for a while to try and avoid the worst of the post-eclipse rush, which in 2017 stretched even into the following day in some parts of the country.

Here's what time the eclipse will be visible in your region

And one more thing: If you do find yourself on the move near the time of the eclipse, state officials stress that you should not simply pull over to the side of the road or highway you're driving on. It's important to be parked legally and safely at the moment of totality.

If you're already in the path of totality: Relax and enjoy!

Several major metropolitan areas including Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Buffalo are already inside the path of totality, so there's no need to seek a better view, Upchurch says. You'll probably have the most fun simply staying where you are.

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If you're on the edge of the path of totality, however, you might consider making a short trip to get closer to the center of the eclipse's path.

"If you're within about 40 miles of the center line, you'll have two-and-a-half minutes or more" of complete totality, Upchurch says. It's up to you to decide whether it's worth making the trip to a more central location.

Despite studying the potential hassles of traveling extensively, Upchurch says he's still looking forward to seeing the 2024 eclipse, which he plans to watch from Texas.

"Totality is absolutely spectacular," he says. "If you have a chance to witness it, I would do it."

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