Oliver v. Konica Minolta Bus. Solutions USA, Inc., 2020 WL 3446865 (Cal. Ct. App. 2020)

In this putative class action, plaintiffs Michael Oliver and Norris Cagonot sued their employer for compensation for the time they and other service technicians spent driving their own personal vehicles to the first customer site in the morning and from the last customer site in the evening. Service technicians did not report to an office for work, and they carried the employer's tools and parts with them in their vehicles. The trial court determined that plaintiffs' commute time was not compensable as hours worked. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that there are triable issues of fact whether the technicians were subject to the employer's control during their commute time and also whether they were entitled to reimbursement for commute mileage. See also Gutierrez v. Brand Energy Servs. of Cal., Inc., 2020 WL 3249043 (Cal. Ct. App. 2020) (Wage Order does not permit employer subject to a collective bargaining agreement not to pay at least minimum wage for compensable travel time).

Originally published 31 July, 2020

Service Technicians May Be Entitled To Compensation For Travel Time

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