Q: Is my employer required to pay me for 14 hours as a passenger, hourly employee, driving to a convention?
I am a hourly employee in NH. My company drives us to Boston, Philadelphia, Indianapolis for conventions. We drive to further away conventions, not fly, because the CEO has an exempt salary worker do all of the driving- in other words, he's not paying out any additional hours during travel, just gas.
Im scheduled to work the Indianapolis convention but the round trip is over 28 hours of driving, of being a captive passenger. I've looked at the dol.gov website and it seems like he's supposed to pay us for "regular business hours" those two travel days even though we will be in the car longer than that. Is he required to pay us 8 hours/day of travel? Or the whole 14 hours /day of travel? If I refuse to work the convention without being paid those days, and then lose my job for refusing to work the convention... Is that wrongful termination in NH?
A:
First, to be clear, this belongs under the heading of Employment Law, not Workers' Compensation. The latter, Workers' Compensation, only refers to workplace injuries. I am a workers' comp. attorney and will have to defer to the attorneys who handle employment law to give you an accurate answer. That said, unless you are a salaried employee, I believe your employer would have to pay you for full workdays while you are traveling but, again, I will have to defer to those who handle wage and hour issues. I would also suggest that if you want to research this on your own, then be sure to look here: https://www.nh.gov/labor/inspection/wage-hour/index.htm as these compromise NH's wage and hour laws.
I know this wasn't your question but, since I am a workers' comp attorney I will at least mention if you suffer an injury while traveling for work you are almost always covered for workers' comp. purposes.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
