United States · Fair Labor Standards Act · hours worked · not weekly-40 overtime
The 40-hour week starts after you know which punches count. This page is that count.
29 CFR §§ 785.33–41 §§ 785.14–17 § 785.19 § 790.6 29 U.S.C. § 254 WHD Fact Sheet #22. Ordinary home-to-work is not hours worked. Site-to-site during the workday is. A one-day assignment in another city counts except the usual commute and usual meal. Overnight travel counts when it cuts across the regular workday (and corresponding hours on nonworking days). A bona fide meal ordinarily ≥30 minutes, completely relieved, is not worktime. Short rests of 5–20 minutes are. This is not /overtime/.
Sourced lines (re-fetched 28 Aug 2026 PT)
- Official CFR 2025-07-01 Part 785 XML — §§ 785.9, 785.14–19, 785.33–41. Travel in the day’s work (785.38) is pinned to this XML because eCFR 785.38 HTML was CAPTCHA-blocked.
- eCFR § 785.39 (current through 26 Aug 2026) — overnight travel corresponding hours; regular meal not counted; passenger travel outside regular hours not counted as WHD enforcement policy.
- eCFR § 790.6 and Part 790 XML — continuous workday, whistle to whistle.
- 29 U.S.C. § 254 (2023 ed.) — portal-to-portal walking before first / after last principal activity is not hours worked unless contract, custom, or practice.
- WHD Fact Sheet #22 (rev. July 2008).
Site A 08:00–12:00 + 30 min drive + site B 12:30–16:30, 30 min bona fide meal inside = 8h worked (drive counts, meal does not).
Home 07:00, one-day other city, usual commute 30 min excluded (785.37).
Overnight passenger 20:00–02:00, regular workday 09:00–17:00 = 0h (does not cut across corresponding hours).
20 min unpaid hole, completely relieved, named return = not hours; 20 min idle engaged-to-wait = hours.
Card 1 · 29 CFR 785.33–41
Travel
Pick the kind of travel. Site-to-site uses first-in to last-out minus a bona fide meal. One-day out-of-town subtracts the usual commute and usual meal. Overnight intersects the travel punches with the regular workday clock, including corresponding hours on nonworking days.
Card 2 · 29 CFR 790.6 · 785.18 / 785.19 · 29 U.S.C. § 254
Continuous workday, bona fide meal, portal-to-portal
Punch the first principal activity and the last. Unpaid lunch of 30+ minutes, completely relieved, drops out. A 5–20 minute rest stays in. Walking before first / after last is not counted unless you turn on contract, custom, or practice.
Card 3 · 29 CFR 785.14–16
Waiting
Two punch pairs. Off (default): completely relieved, named return — the hole is not hours worked. On: engaged to wait — the hole counts.
Card 4 · 29 CFR 785.17
On-call
On premises (or so close they cannot use the time): punch the tour; it is hours worked. Leave-word at home: punch only actual call-outs. No invented home on-call multiplier.
In scope
- Which punches are hours worked under Part 785 / 790.6 / § 254
- Site-to-site drive time inside the workday
- One-day out-of-town minus usual commute and usual meal
- Overnight corresponding hours (785.39)
- Bona fide meal ≥30 min vs short rest 5–20 min
- Engaged-to-wait vs waiting-to-be-engaged
- On-premises on-call vs leave-word + call-out punches
Out of scope
- FLSA weekly-40 overtime (that is /overtime/)
- Regular-rate differentials and bonuses (that is /flsa-regular-rate/)
- An invented home on-call multiplier
- eCFR 785.38 HTML (CAPTCHA; 785.38 is the govinfo 2025 XML)
- Sleep-time 785.22 (that card is on /flsa-8-80/)
FAQ
Is ordinary commuting hours worked under the FLSA?
No. 29 CFR 785.35: ordinary home-to-work travel is not worktime, even to changing job sites. Travel from job site to job site during the workday is hours worked (785.38, govinfo 2025 Part 785 XML). A special one-day assignment in another city is work time except the usual commute and usual meal (785.37). Overnight travel counts when it cuts across the regular workday and corresponding hours on nonworking days; regular meal time is not counted (785.39). Work performed while traveling always counts (785.41). WHD Fact Sheet #22 (rev. July 2008).
What is the continuous workday?
29 CFR 790.6: from the first principal activity to the last, intervening time is in the workday. Portal-to-Portal Act § 4 (29 U.S.C. § 254) does not strip time inside that window. Bona fide meals ordinarily 30 minutes or more, completely relieved, are not worktime (785.19). Short rests of 5–20 minutes are hours worked (785.18). Walking before the first or after the last principal activity is not hours worked unless a contract, custom, or practice makes it compensable.
When is waiting or on-call time hours worked?
Engaged to wait is hours worked (785.15). Waiting to be engaged — completely relieved, told in advance they may leave, named return hour — is not (785.16). On-call on the employer’s premises, or so close they cannot use the time, is hours worked; merely leaving word at home is not (785.17). There is no home on-call multiplier on this page. Fact Sheet #22 extra-constraints language is labeled, not a formula.
Does this page compute FLSA overtime after 40 hours?
No. This page only decides which punches count as hours worked. Weekly-40 overtime at 1.5× is /overtime/. Regular-rate inclusions (shift differentials, bonuses) are /flsa-regular-rate/.
