Travel Time

updated 24 May 2022

Massachusetts state minimum wage law requires employees to be paid their regular wage even while traveling from one job location to another.

An example of traveling to various job locations is when one is employed as a house cleaner with a company that provides house-cleaning as a service, since naturally and logically the employees doing the cleaning must travel from one client's location to the next client's location. (People who work for a house-cleaning company are employees, not independent contractors.)

If your employer is not paying you for travel time during "working time" which is anytime you are "on call" or "on duty", or you cannot leave, then you have the right to file a workplace complaint for unpaid wages with the Massachusetts Attorney General.

The provision is pasted below. You can easily find it yourself by running an internet search with keywords including "Massachusetts", "travel time", "wage". Full text of the law can be seen on the state website [PDF 6 pages].

454 CMR: DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STANDARDS
454 CMR 27.04 Hours Worked
"(d) An employee required or directed to travel from one place to another after the beginning of or before the close of the work day shall be compensated for all travel time and shall be reimbursed for all transportation expenses."
REGULATORY AUTHORITY 454 CMR 27.00: M.G.L. c 23, §1; M.G.L. c 151