What you “should have known” can hurt you.  Compensable work time can be one of the most confusing aspects of the FLSA since there are so many “special cases” involved.  In general, the employer is responsible to compensate an employee for work any extra work time the employer “knows, or should have known” about, including travel time and unauthorized overtime.  Diane E. Stanton, in an article entitled “Avoiding FLSA Pitfalls” published in The PEO Insider, gives additional guidelines:

Travel Time
When an employee spends time traveling during the workday for reasons related to his work responsibilities, the travel time must be compensated.  When an employee generally works in one location and must temporarily travel to a fixed location in another city, the difference between that travel time and his regular commuting time (home-to-work) must be compensated as work time.  Normal travel or commuting time at the beginning and end of the day are not considered work time.

Unauthorized Overtime
Another sticky issue is unauthorized overtime, since all work completed after an employee’s shift ends is compensable, even if an employer has a policy stating that overtime is not permissible without advance authorization.  “...an employee who works overtime in violation of the policy must be paid if the employer knew or should have known about the overtime.” (Stanton, The PEO Insider) This rule does not prohibit an employer from taking disciplinary action against an employee who puts in overtime without authorization.

Helping you interpret the subtleties of laws like the FLSA is part of what a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) does best.  The Human Resources Department at HR Outsourcing, Inc. can answer any additional questions you may be concerned about.

Source:  The PEO Insider