Time tracking and drive-time pay for field employees

Why drive time causes so many disputes

In an office, the workday starts when someone sits down. In field service it starts somewhere between the employee's driveway, the shop and the first customer's door, and that ambiguity drives a large share of wage disputes in home services. The rules are not complicated, but they have to be applied consistently, and the records have to show it.

This guide covers the federal baseline. Many states add their own rules, often stricter ones on overtime, meal breaks and travel, so check your state labor department or an employment lawyer before you finalize a policy.

The federal rules in plain terms

The Department of Labor's guidance on hours worked sets out the main lines^[1]:

Two situations deserve extra care. If employees must report to the shop first to pick up the van, materials or instructions, the workday generally starts at the shop, and the drive to the first job is paid. And if an employee does work at home before leaving, such as loading the day's route, calling the first customer or completing paperwork, the workday may start then too.

Take-home vans

Many service companies let techs take vans home so they can drive straight to the first job. Under federal law, ordinary commuting in a company vehicle is generally not compensable when the commute is within the normal area for the business and the employee agrees to the arrangement. Things change when the employee has to do work during the commute, such as stopping for parts or taking dispatch calls, or when the first or last trip is unusually long. Some states treat commuting time in a company vehicle differently, so get local advice if you operate in more than one state.

Write the take-home rules down: what counts as the normal commuting area, what stops are allowed, how calls during the commute are handled and when the clock starts.

What unpaid drive time costs

Unpaid drive time is not just a compliance risk; it is real money your employees notice. BLS median hourly pay in May 2025 ranges from $17.71 for janitors and building cleaners^[3] and $19.27 for grounds maintenance workers^[4] to $21.75 for pest control workers^[5], $26.65 for roofers^[6], $29.33 for HVAC mechanics^[2] and $30.38 for electricians^[7].

Example. A fictional HVAC company with 10 techs does not pay the 30 minutes a day each tech spends driving between jobs. At $29.33 an hour, that is about $14.67 per tech per day. Over 250 working days, it is roughly $36,700 a year for the crew, before overtime. If some techs already work more than 40 hours a week, much of that time should have been paid at time and a half, and a back-pay claim can reach back two or three years. Fixing the process is far cheaper.

Choosing a time tracking method

Most field companies now use mobile time clocks built into their field service software or a standalone app. Look for:

• Clock in and out from the phone, with job status changes (en route, on site, completed) recorded automatically.
• Optional GPS stamps or geofences that prompt a clock-in when the tech arrives at the shop or a job.
• Break tracking that records start and end, not just a total.
• An audit trail for every edit: who changed what, when and why.
• Exports that feed payroll directly, so nobody retypes hours.
• Offline mode for basements and rural areas with weak signal.

Paper timesheets still work for small crews, but they make it hard to prove drive time and breaks later. If you stay on paper, have employees record start, end, each job arrival and departure, and breaks, and sign the sheet weekly.

Using GPS fairly

GPS tracking helps verify hours and resolve customer disputes, but it can feel like surveillance. Several states require written notice before electronic monitoring, and employees trust the system more when they know exactly what it does. A fair setup:

1. Tell employees in writing what location data you collect, when, why and who sees it.
2. Track company devices and vehicles during work hours only; do not track personal phones off the clock.
3. Use the data to pay accurately and to protect techs from false complaints, not only to discipline.
4. Keep the data for a set period and delete it after.

Rules that keep timesheets clean

1. 01

   Write the policy

   Define when the workday starts, how travel is paid, break and meal rules, on-call and callout pay, and how to record time.

2. 02

   Ban off-the-clock work

   State plainly that nobody works unpaid, including loading the van, calling customers or finishing paperwork at home.

3. 03

   Train managers

   Managers must not edit time down to hit a labor budget. Any edit needs a reason and the employee's acknowledgment.

4. 04

   Review weekly

   Look for missed punches, long gaps between jobs and repeated edits before payroll closes.

5. 05

   Check overtime

   Confirm overtime is calculated on all hours worked, including drive time and paid breaks, and that any bonuses are included in the regular rate where required.

6. 06

   Keep records

   Store timesheets, edits and GPS data for at least the period your state and federal rules require.

On-call time and callouts

On-call rules sit on the same line. Time spent on call at home, free to sleep, eat and spend time with family, is usually not work time, but tight restrictions on response time, location or activity can change that^[1]. Once a tech takes a callout, the work and the drive to that emergency job are paid. Many companies also pay a minimum number of hours per callout so a ten-minute reset at 2 a.m. is worth getting out of bed for. Write the rule down, record every callout with start and end times, and review the on-call load each month so it is shared fairly.

Rolling out a new time clock

Changing how people record time can feel like a pay cut, even when it is the opposite. Introduce it carefully:

1. Explain why: accurate pay, especially for drive time, and protection against customer disputes.
2. Run the new system alongside the old one for two pay periods and compare totals with each tech.
3. Fix any differences in the employee's favor while the process settles.
4. Train everyone on edits: how to request one, who approves and how they will see it.
5. Check the first month of data for patterns, such as missed clock-outs after the last job, and fix the cause rather than blaming people.

Mistakes that lead to claims

• Paying from first job arrival to last job departure, which skips drive time between jobs.
• Automatic meal deductions when techs often work through lunch.
• Managers trimming hours to hit labor targets.
• Paying a flat day rate without tracking hours or overtime.
• Treating mandatory morning meetings as unpaid.

Make the numbers work

Paying all drive time raises labor cost, so plan for it rather than hiding it. Route jobs by area to cut windshield time, build drive time into your pricing and job estimates, and track billable hours as a share of paid hours. Labor costs are rising: average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees at specialty trade contractors reached $39.05 in September 2026^[8]. Accurate time data is what lets you price for that.

Pay practices connect to retention too. Cleaners and lawn crews notice quickly when drive time is not paid. See our guides to keeping house cleaners and to tips policies for related pay issues.