Below the Washington Least Wage Act (MWA),¹ companies are necessary to pay back staff members for all “hours worked.” Sad to say, whether or not routines depend as several hours labored is not a very simple idea, primarily when it comes to commuting and vacation time. Whilst businesses generally do not have to pay out staff for their every day commute to and from perform, Washington situation legislation has discovered some commute contexts that do count as hours labored. Businesses ought to quickly update their travel time insurance policies and practices to make certain that they are entirely paying staff members for all hours labored in compliance with the new Port of Tacoma v. Sacks² choice.

Employers’ Obligation to Fork out Hrs Worked

The related MWA regulation defines “hours worked” to consist of “all several hours throughout which the staff is approved or essential by the employer to be on duty on the employer’s premises or at a recommended operate location.”³ Over and above this regulatory definition, the Office of Labor and Industries (the Section) has issued an administrative coverage that offers facts on the Department’s interpretation of what routines or time rely as compensable hrs labored.⁴

The Department’s plan distinguishes “commute time” from “travel time.” The plan defines “commute time” as the time an personnel travels between get the job done and dwelling and “travel time”⁵ as “time invested travelling for a function-linked purpose.”⁶ Importantly, the plan instructs that commute time is not compensable but that journey time is.⁷

Knowing When Commute Time or Vacation Time Is Compensable

Three Washington appellate scenarios underscore the variance among when staff members are commuting and when they are engaging in vacation time that counts as hours worked.

Initially, in Anderson v. Department of Social & Health and fitness Companies,⁸ the Washington Court docket of Appeals interpreted what it meant for an employee to be “on duty” and held that time staff members of the Particular Commitment Center on McNeil Island expended using the employer-delivered ferry to and from function was commuting time and not hours labored.⁹ Even though the court did not outline “on duty” inside the context of the…