The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division continues to release opinion letters containing useful guidance for employers on complex Fair Labor Standards Act compliance issues. In July, DOL issued an opinion discussing when non-exempt service technicians must be paid for activities incidental to their actual repair work. In the opinion letter FLSA2026-10, the employer asked DOL whether these technicians engage in compensable working time when they receive appointment information before they leave home and schedule appointments at the beginning of the day.

First, DOL says that the passive receipt of text messages, emails, or other communications before beginning work is incidental to the employee’s actual duties and does not begin the paid workday. Checking the day’s work schedule is not part of these core duties. Second, while commuting to the first worksite of the day is generally not compensable, if the employee spends time at the beginning of the workday scheduling and coordinating service appointments with customers and co-workers, this triggers the beginning of the compensable workday. These activities are considered a crucial component of the employee’s duties. If they occur at the beginning of the workday, subsequent travel to the first customer worksite of the day is compensable because the employee’s working time has already begun. Instead of being considered commuting time, this travel becomes part of the continuous workday.

Employers with service technicians or similar workers should carefully consider when and how the employees' work is scheduled and implemented. If the company does not want the paid workday to begin before the employee arrives at the first worksite, it should establish procedures for scheduling and confirming appointments that do not inadvertently begin the compensable timeclock ticking at an earlier point.

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