The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a critical opinion July 22, 2019, answering the question of whether time spent in a truck’s sleeper berth is compensable hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Carriers no longer are required to include any sleeper berth time from trips. This includes trips under 24 hours. A full copy of the opinion is here.

The DOL wrote that it was “unnecessarily burdensome” for employers. It concluded that a “straightforward” method of accounting for sleeper berth time is not to count it. “This presumption—that non-working time in which the employee is relieved of all duties is not compensable—holds true regardless of whether the truck is moving or stationary,” and applies to situations where drivers work with assistants or in teams. The only time spent in a sleeper berth that might be counted toward on-duty time is where someone is on call or working on office-administrative type materials. It is the responsibility of the employee using the berth to demonstrate that he or she was on duty; otherwise, the presumption is they are off duty.

The opinion used an example of a truck driver who spent 55.84 hours in a workweek driving, inspecting, cleaning, fueling, and completing paperwork, and 49.96 hours off-duty in the sleeper berth. In this case, the DOL said, the driver should have been paid a FLSA minimum wage of at least $404.84, which is 55.84 working hours multiplied by the federal minimum wage. All other time, including 100% of the time in the berth, was non-compensable.

If you have questions about accounting for your driver or employee time, please contact us. We conduct mock labor audits to ensure your compliance with wage and hours standards.