QUESTION
is it legal for a company to require an employee to drive 4 hours alone after a 12+ hour work day and then have them start work 2 hours after the trip
Asked on Jan 23rd, 2015 on Labor and Employment - New Jersey
More details to this question:
My spouse works for an IT company and they are moving their data center. The plan was to pack up all the equipment then move it to the new data center over a 2 day period..my wife being a part of the team worked for 12 hours on the move out of the existing data center.... then the PM had her drive 4 hours alone in her own car to the new location between 12:30 am and 4:30 am, then start work on the install at 6 am that morning... to me it seems like a 30+ hour work day and some very dangerous driving right in the middle of it.... is this legal and should the company be responsible for safe transportation? and what can i do to make sure this company never does this sort of thing again? I come out of the construction industry and would never put this type of work schedule on anyone....do OSHA rules apply here?
1 ANSWER
Criminal Defense Attorney serving Toms River, NJ
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Edward J. Dimon
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There are no legal constraints which prevent an employer from requiring that an employee drive a long distance to job. The employee can request additional compensation for the travel. However, the employer has the authority and discretion to say yes or no to the compensation for travel. For example, large accounting firms have their accountants travel to cities 2000 miles away and do accounting work for two weeks. The accountant is paid for the two weeks of accounting work done in the faraway city. The accountant is not compensated for the flight to and from the city or compensated for evenings spent in the city away from home.
Answered on Jan 25th, 2015 at 7:43 PM