Employer Services Advisory Bulletin
Employees Commuting in Company Vehicles May Be
Entitled to Additional Pay
By Michael
J. Killeen and Sheehan
Sullivan Weiss
[November 2007]
The Washington Supreme Court recently issued an important
decision for employers whose employees take a company vehicle home
and use it to commute to and from work. In Stevens v. Brink’s
Home Security Inc., Brinks, a home security firm, allowed its
technicians the option of either picking up the company vehicle
at the company’s local headquarters, or, alternatively, taking
the company vehicle home and driving it between their homes and
their first and last job site. In most instances, Brinks did not
pay employees for their commute time spent driving to and from the
company headquarters or to and from the first and last job site.
In a 7-2 decision, the Court found that the Brinks drivers were
both on duty and considered to be on the company premises
(or at the prescribed work place) during the time they were driving
to and from their homes in the company vehicles, and thus this time
was considered “hours worked” under the Washington Minimum
Wage Act. Accordingly, Brinks was required to pay its employees
for this commute time.
What Does This Case Mean for Employers?
Employers that allow employees to take a marked company vehicle
home at night and use it to commute between their home and job site
are now arguably required to treat that commute time as work time
and pay employees accordingly. However, there are a number of factual
issues in Brinks that may or may not be applicable in any
particular employer’s practice. The Brinks case involved
a truck that was marked with the company logo and the company 800
number; the employer could re-direct the employee during the time
spent driving between the home and first job site; the truck transported
tools and equipment necessary to do the job; employees were prohibited
from conducting any personal activities or business while using
the trucks; and the employees worked directly from the truck performing
duties such as completing paperwork.
What Should You Do If Your Employees Use Company Vehicles for Commuting
Purposes?
Other situations and practices may vary, but any employer that
allows employees to use company vehicles in a similar way should
review this issue with counsel.
For more information, please
contact:
Davis Wright Tremaine has employment
and labor lawyers in Alaska, Oregon, Washington state, California
and Washington, D.C. We represent many clients nationally. For a
specific referral for a DWT employment and labor attorney in your
state, please contact an above attorney. Thank you.
This
advisory
is a publication of the Employer Services Department of Davis Wright
Tremaine LLP. Our purpose in publishing this advisory
is to inform our clients and friends of recent developments in employment
law. It is not intended, nor should it be used, as a substitute
for specific legal advice as legal counsel may be given only in
response to inquiries regarding particular situations. Attorney
advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Copyright © 2007, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
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