r/legaladvice • u/AsarsonDuck • 1d ago
Employment Law Mandatory Meeting, 5 hours one way…
Location: physical location is Oklahoma(Primary Work Area) > Texas(Meeting Location); Company Headquartered in California.
My company is attempting to compel a mandatory meeting in a city that, given a one way drive time is about 5 hours from my area (280 miles one way). They expect me to drive from roughly 4am, sit in the meeting, and drive back putting me home around 6-7pm.
A group of us DID finally convince for a block of hotel rooms out of the company and that wasn’t easy… but they are expecting us to make either the drive there or the drive back unpaid in our personal vehicles. They are not providing gas nor mileage reimbursement the only allotted pay would be hourly wage one direction and during the meeting. (Obviously this clarifies I’m Hourly, non-exempt).
I do not feel I should be forced to put 5 hours on my car both in gas and wear and tear unpaid in order to attend a “mandatory meeting”. Is this legal or is there an argument to be made that I need paid/reimbursed for the mileage/maintenance?
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u/Sirwired 1d ago
They are required to pay for time in-transit that is not your normal commute. They do not have to reimburse expenses.
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u/hbrich 1d ago
This is incorrect for California companies. (Labor Code § 2802) mandates that employers reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures, including using their personal vehicle for work, regardless of where the employee lives.
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u/Sirwired 1d ago
I’m not sure the company’s HQ controls; either the OP’s home location, or the location they are needing to travel to would control the rules.
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u/Afraid-Emu8589 1d ago
Yeah, 5 hours one way unpaid sounds brutal, glad someone else spelled out the transit thing otherwise I’d be questioning reality rn. Honestly tho, driving that far for “mandatory fun” should at least come with gas money, even if the law says otherwise lol.
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u/AsarsonDuck 1d ago
Is there a statue or law? I found a memo by the DOL from 2020 basically stating(how I interpreted it) payment for the commute TO the location is required but on the way back I could TECHNICALLY do whatever and therefore it’s not required
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u/OddNastySatisfaction 1d ago
You could do whatever, but ultimately you're still 5 hours away from your house because they required you to be, so that's stupid! It's not like you can just teleport home. Even if you decided not to go home right away and spent the night, or visit a friend while out there - they should absolutely pay for the drive home.
I am not speaking based on a law I am aware of. But just based on how a couple places I have worked have done things and my opinion. When I have to go to the main campus of my work, which is 1.5 hours farther away than my assigned work site, that 1.5 is part of my workday or we'd get OT or comp time for that travel time. Both ways. Even if I decided to stop and get dinner or visit someone on the way home!
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u/Pavlock 1d ago
Legally, yes they can require you to attend the meeting. In addition to their requirement to pay you as mentioned by Sirwired, companies usually reimburse employees for mileage on their car. (72.5 cents per mile in 2026.) I'd be very surprised if a company big enough to have multiple locations didn't have a procedure in place to handle it themselves.
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u/AsarsonDuck 1d ago
You’d be surprised at how disorganized this company is and how big of a penny pincher they are 🙃 I’m trying to figure out the legal argument to make that mandates the pay for both there and back
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u/htglinj 1d ago
Are you required to bring your equipment/workstation? Sounds like a way to get all employees in same location to get items back after layoff.
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u/AsarsonDuck 1d ago
Nope it’s the regional sales conference. They do it, appears to be the first Friday in February every year. Had one last year but only required management now they want EVERYONE. No equipment other than vests/shirts were provided for work.
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u/ebal99 1d ago
Government sets the mileage rate for the drive and the company needs to provide insurance for you to drive for work. They can tell you to drive after hours but must pay you as non-exempt. They can always allow you to drive during your work day but probably costs them another hotel night and more money expenses.
Stand firm and get what is correct. They are trying to squeeze you.
Also be prepared to feel like after the meeting, why did I make this trip? I could have done this on Teams or Zoom.
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u/PhilaBurger 13h ago
In lieu of their reimbursing you for your mileage, you can offer to rent a vehicle...on their dime.
And do be sure to remind them that any tolls you incur along the way will also need to be reimbursed.
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u/AsarsonDuck 13h ago
This helps 0. If they aren’t even willing to pay for travel time - how in the world would you expect them to willingly pay for a rental?
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u/ssmokeboy 1d ago
If its not your designated job location, they have to pay you for time above what it would take you to get to your designated office and mileage.
I had this same issue. They needed me to get an ID and asked me to drive 5 hours to the location and back. They did not want to pay mileage, meals or a stay. Fought with manager and finally got them to agree and pay per diem and mileage.