ART.

84
1.6 TravelTime

CONDITIONS

OF EMPLOYMENT

Broadly, time spent walking, riding, or traveling to or from the place work mayor may not constitute working time. Time spent in traveling been held to constitute working time within the overtime provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act under some circumstances, but not under o.tij circumstances. Among factors given significance are whether the employee bound to travel in a conveyance furnished by the employer or is free,to.ch his conveyance, whether or not during the travel he is subject to the employer supervision and control, and whether or not the travel takes place Uno, vexing and dangerous conditions. (21 Am.JUL 880.) In the Phiiippines, the Department of Labor Manual states thaf the principles which apply in determining whether or not time spent in travelis working time depend upon the kind of travel involved. The subject is discuSsed' under the headings "Travel from home to work," "Travel that is all in th~"_ '1"'~ day's work," and "Travel away from home.", (1) Travel from home to work. - An employee who travels from hOni~~~ti ; before his regular workday and returns to his home at the end of the workday' ~t employment. ordinary whether he travel a fixed a normal incidenf<i ~ is engaged jobsltes .. in This is truehome-ta-work works at which islocation or at differelit ~" _.

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But while normal travel from home to work is not worktime, whenari.:;;:j employee receives an emergency call outside of his regular working hours,~\.t ,.y1and is required to travel to his regular place of business or some other workl site, all of the time spent in such travel is working time. (2) Travel that is all in the day's work. -Time spent by an employee in travel as part of his principal activity, such as travel from jobsite to jobsite . during the workday, must be counted as hours worked. Where an employee is required to. report at a meeting place to receive instructians ar to perform other work there, or to pick and to carry tools, the travel from the designated place to. the workplace is part of the day's work and must be counted as hours worked regardless of contract, custom, or practice. If an employee normally finishes his wark an the premises at 5 p.m. and is sent to' another job which. he finished at 8 p.m. and is required to' return to' his emplayer's premises arriving at 9 p.m., all of the time is working time. Hawever, if the empl?ye,e goes hame instead of returning to' his employer's premises, the travel after 8 . p.m. is hame-ta-wark travel and is not haurs worked .. (3) Travel awayfrom home. -Travel that keeps an emplayee awayfroin home overnight is travel away from hame. Travel away from hame is c1eaily warktime when it cuts across the employee's workday. The employee is simply substituting travel far other duties. The time is hours worked not only o'n regular working days during narmal warking haurs but also during the , 196

HOURS OF WORK

ART. 84

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corresponding hours on nonworking days. Thus, if an employee regularly ,.vorksfrom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, the travel time during these hours is worktime on Saturday and Sunday as well as on the other days. Regular meal period is not counted. As an enforcement policy, the Department will not consider as worktime those times spent in travel away from home outside of regular working hours as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus or automobile. Any work which an employee is required to perform while traveling must, of course, be counted as hours worked. An employee who drives a truck, bus, automobile, boat, or airplane or an employee who is required to ride therein as an assistant or helper, is working while riding, except during bona fide meal periods or when he is permitted to sleep in adequate facilities furnished by the employer. Under this rule, the time spent by an employee in traveling to a place outside Metro Manila to do installation jobs is considered time worked when the travel time cuts across or coincides with his regular work hours. Hence, he should be paid his regular salary for said time. (Letter dated 3 September 1981
of

Bureau of Labor Standards to Miss A. Vergelde Dios.)

_".

Similarly, the time spen t by the driver of a delivery truck in getting the vehiclefrom and returning it to the Company bodega is deemed time worked.
(jose Gayona vs. Goodearth Emporium and Supermarket, Inc., NLRC Case No. !V13104-77, APril 5, 1979.)

1.7 Lectures, Meetings, and Training Programs Attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs, and similar activities need not be counted as working time if the following three criteria are met: 1. Attendance is outside of the employee's regular working hours; 2. Attendance is in fact voluntary; and 3. The employee does not perform any productive work during such attendance. In the case of PRISCO vs. CIR, et al. (C.R. No. L-13806, May 23, 1960), the Supreme Court held that the services rendered outside of the regular working hours partake the nature of overtime work. In that case, the security guards were directed to report for duty one hour in advance of the usual time for guard work for briefing purposes. It may be noted that in this case the criterion in number 2 above is not met. 1.8 Grievance Meeting Time spent in adjusting grievance between employer and employees during the time the employees are required by the employer to be on the premises is hours worked. But in the event a bona fide union is involved, the counting of such time will, as a matter of enforcement policy, be left to the 197