Do I need to pay for home-to-first-client travel for remote workers now

Do I need to pay for home-to-first-client travel for remote workers now

The short answer is no for ordinary commuting, yes when the trip is part of the workday. Under U.S. wage rules, home to the first client is usually unpaid travel, but required work during the drive can turn that time into hours worked. IRS rules are separate and affect deductions, not wages.

The part people get wrong is mixing up three different questions: whether the worker is owed wages for the travel time, whether the company should reimburse the expense, and whether the company can deduct the cost. Those are not the same rule, and one answer does not control the others. The tax rule on deductibility does not force a wage payment.

For wages, ordinary home-to-work travel is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Department of Labor’s current guidance says travel from home to a first work site is ordinary commuting when the employee is simply going to work, and that time need not be paid. The same agency’s 2026 opinion letter says required client calls during the drive can change that result.

That means the real question is what happens during the trip. If the remote worker just drives, rides, or takes transit from home to the first client, that is commuting. If the worker must perform principal job duties before arriving, such as making required client calls, scheduling appointments, or doing other active work on the trip, the time can become compensable.

A practical example makes the line clearer. A remote worker leaves home at 8:00 a.m., drives to the first client, and only listens to music on the way. That travel is ordinary commute time. If the same worker is required to spend the drive calling clients and coordinating the day’s appointments, the Department of Labor has said that travel can be work time.

Tax rules answer a different question. The IRS says transportation between a qualifying home office and a client’s place of business can be deductible, and travel between home and the first business contact can be nondeductible commuting when there is no regular office or home office that qualifies as the principal place of business. Deductible for taxes does not mean payable as wages, and nondeductible does not mean the employee is unpaid for all purposes.

If the worker has a home office that qualifies as the principal place of business, the trip from that office to a client location can be treated differently for tax purposes. The IRS publication on business use of the home explains that a qualifying home office can change how transportation is treated. That rule helps with deductions, not with whether the time must be on payroll.

The inconvenient part is that remote status does not automatically make the first-client trip special. A person who works from home most days can still have an ordinary commute when leaving home for the first assignment of the day. The label “remote worker” does not erase the commute rule, and it does not create a blanket travel allowance or a blanket wage obligation.

What you should do in practice is separate policy from payroll. If your company wants to reimburse home-to-client mileage or transit, write that into policy. If the worker is performing tasks during the trip, track that time as hours worked. If the trip is just home-to-first-client commuting, you can keep it unpaid unless a contract, local rule, or company policy says otherwise.

If you handle this wrong, the risk is usually underpaying hours worked or creating a reimbursement policy you do not follow consistently. The DOL’s guidance makes clear that work performed during travel can be compensable, and IRS rules make clear that travel records matter for tax treatment. Clean records beat arguments after the fact.

A simple rule set keeps it manageable. Pay for the travel time when the employee is required to work during the trip. Do not treat ordinary home-to-first-client commuting as paid time. Reimburse mileage or transit only if your policy says you will, and document the reason so payroll, tax, and manager decisions stay aligned.

If you want the policy language to be easier to operationalize, keep it narrow: “Travel time is paid when the employee is required to perform work during the trip. Ordinary commuting from home to the first client is not paid unless company policy says otherwise.” That wording matches the wage rule without pretending tax treatment is the same thing.

For teams that also need app release help, DevConnect is a separate place to find testers and testing jobs, and it stays free to use: https://devconnectplatform.com. That does not change the travel rule, but it can keep other startup costs from crowding the payroll question.

FAQ

Does remote work make home-to-first-client travel paid No. Remote work by itself does not make ordinary travel from home to the first client compensable. The deciding factor is whether the trip is just a commute or whether the employee is required to do work during the trip.

If the worker checks email on the way, do I have to pay Not every phone use changes the rule. The key is whether the employee is performing required principal job duties during the trip. The Department of Labor’s current guidance focuses on required work, not casual personal device use.

Can I reimburse mileage without paying for travel time Yes. Reimbursement of expenses and payment for hours worked are separate decisions. A company can choose to reimburse business travel costs even when the travel time itself is not paid as wages.

Does the IRS allow a deduction for home-to-client travel Sometimes, but only under the tax rules that apply to the worker’s home office, tax home, and work pattern. The IRS publication on transportation explains that home-to-first-contact travel can be nondeductible commuting in some cases and deductible in others.

What record should I keep Keep the start point, end point, date, purpose, and whether any work tasks were required during travel. The IRS says you must keep records to prove the time, place, and business purpose of travel, and that same discipline helps payroll decisions too.

Sources - IRS, Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463 - IRS, Topic No. 511, Business travel expenses: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc511 - IRS, Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p587 - U.S. Department of Labor, WHD Opinion Letter FLSA2026-10: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-10.pdf?22vnn9pw7lr= - U.S. Department of Labor, Field Operations Handbook, Chapter 31: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/field-operations-handbook/Chapter-31 - U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #79D: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/79d-flsa-domestic-service-hours-worked