Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia

When does our work day begin and how should our hours be kept?

I am a school bus driver and I would like to know when should our working time start? We are paid hourly and I would like to know if our time begins when we pick our bus up to start our run or should it begin when we get to the first stop with the bus? I would also like to know how should our working hours be kept to ensure that we are being paid for exact hours worked? Right now a computer tells us how long it should take for our run to be done and that's what we are paid for. They then add 1 hr. to that for pretrip inspec. (15 min.), washing bus (30 - 60 min.), waiting time to start next run (5 - 30 min.), & any problems we have. Alot of us are working more time then they have allowed and have no choice. We aren't considered on the clock and working until we arrive at the first stop & after we leave our last stop. From the time we pick up the bus until we reach our first stop and when leaving the last to drop bus off could vary from 5 to 30 minutes. We are not paid for this time or they say that is included in the extra hour they give, but for the majoirty of us it has already been used for the other time it is alotted for. Is this legal?


Asked on 2/15/04, 4:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: When does our work day begin and how should our hours be kept?

You might wish to refer an inquiry to the Wage and Hour section of the Labor & Employment Division of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (VDLI), whose website can be found under

Virginia.gov. These wage and hour folks should be able to provide answers to your questions.

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Answered on 2/15/04, 6:33 pm


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