Legal Question in Employment Law in Maryland

Employers failing to pay their employees for various parts of their time is a really common thing right now. It is unfortunate that you are forced to ask this question, because it means that you suspect your employer is cheating you on hours (and maybe your coworkers as well).

Having said that, the best answer to your question is going to require at least a brief telephone conversation with an attorney who knows this area of law ... because often times an employer can be doing things incorrectly that you haven't even thought about when it comes to paying wages properly according to the law.

Generally speaking though, regardless of whether you drive your own vehicle or a company vehicle, the first trip from your home out to the work -site at the beginning of a shift, and then the ride home from the work site at the end of the shift do NOT have to be compensated. In other words, if you were driving your own car, you'd still have to get to and from work and that part is not paid.

Now, the thing is that there are exceptions to this general rule. If you are picking up other employees that changes things; if you are driving further than usual, that changes things; if you are delivering the vehicle for use at a job site that MAY change things depending on other factors.

In my office we litigated a case with a large employer that had employees drive to a truck depot, then drive from the truck depot to the job site, but wouldn't clock the driver in for wage purposes until he got to the job site. We argued that the driver should have been paid from the time driving from depot to the job site.