08/19/2026
Did you miss it? DOL Just Made Flexible Scheduling Easier (and Safer) for Employers
A new DOL opinion letter (FLSA2026-9) is good news for employers who want to offer flexible schedules without wading into overtime risk.
Here's the scoop: employees often want to split their day between home and office — say, working from home in the morning, driving in mid-morning to dodge traffic, then heading home later to wrap up. Employers have historically been wary of allowing this for non-exempt employees, worried that mid-day travel would count as compensable work time.
FLSA2026-9 says otherwise. As long as the travel is voluntary and employee-driven, that mid-day commute can still count as part of the employee's "ordinary" commute — meaning it stays unpaid, even though it happens in the middle of the workday.
The bottom line: you may be able to give non-exempt employees real flexibility in when and where they work, without creating new wage-and-hour exposure.
Read the opinion letter: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/opinion-letters/request
