Paying RBTs for drive time between clients: FLSA rules and Florida's 2026 minimum wage

The rules are in 29 CFR part 785. Travel from home before the workday and back home after it is ordinary home to work travel, and it is not worktime even when the employee works at different job sites¹. That covers the drive to the first family of the day and the drive home after the last one.

Travel that is part of the day’s work is different. Time spent traveling as part of the principal activity, “such as travel from job site to job site during the workday”, must be counted as hours worked¹. For an RBT, that means the drive from one client’s home, school or clinic to the next. If the agency requires RBTs to report to a meeting place first, for instructions or to pick up materials, travel from there to the client counts too, “regardless of contract, custom, or practice”¹.

For an RBT who sees two or three families a day, those minutes add up, and how they are paid shapes take-home pay.

• Waiting that is part of the job is worktime: the employee is “engaged to wait”, even if allowed to step away¹.
• A gap is not worktime only if the RBT is completely relieved from duty, told in advance they may leave and when to return, and the gap is long enough to use effectively for their own purposes¹.
• Rest periods of about 5 to 20 minutes must be counted as hours worked¹.
• A bona fide meal period, ordinarily 30 minutes or more with no duties, is not worktime¹.
• Session notes written at home count if the employer knows or has reason to believe the work is being done¹.

For a canceled session, apply the same tests to what happened (our reading, to confirm with counsel): a drive from one client to a family that canceled was travel during the workday; waiting at the door is engaged to wait; a long, free gap until the next session may not count.

Florida’s constitution requires employers to pay no less than the minimum wage “for all hours worked in Florida”⁴. The rate rose to $15.00 per hour on September 30, 2026 and stays there through December 31, 2027⁵; from September 30, 2025 it was $14.00⁶. The federal minimum is $7.25⁶. The constitution adopts the FLSA’s definitions of employer, employee and wage, and says FLSA case law and interpretations guide its construction⁴.

The FLSA does not require hourly pay: earnings may be set on a piece-rate or other basis, such as per session, but overtime must be computed on the hourly rate derived from them⁷. The regular rate is the week’s total pay, except statutory exclusions, divided by the hours actually worked that week; with two or more rates, it is the weighted average⁷. Hours over 40 earn at least one and a half times that rate, and each workweek stands alone⁷.

The sessions alone add up to 36 hours, so a payroll that ignored drive time would show no overtime. Only the half-time premium is added because straight time was already paid for every hour, as in the regulation’s example that combines piece rates with hourly pay for waiting time⁷.

Whether higher session pay can “cover” unpaid drive hours by averaging across the week is a legal question this article does not settle; Florida’s text speaks of all hours worked⁴. Ask an employment lawyer before relying on it.

Two expense rules matter for drivers. A reimbursement that reasonably approximates an expense, such as mileage, is not part of the regular rate⁸. And wages must be paid “free and clear”: in the regulation’s example, the cost of tools of the trade cannot cut into minimum or overtime wages in any workweek⁹. Applying that to unreimbursed car costs is our inference; confirm it with counsel.

For each nonexempt employee, the FLSA requires, among other items, the day and time the workweek begins, the basis of pay (per hour, per piece or other), the hours worked each workday and each workweek, straight-time earnings and overtime premium¹⁰. Payroll records must be kept at least 3 years; time cards and wage rate tables, at least 2¹⁰. A Florida minimum wage claim can be brought within 4 years, or 5 if the violation was willful⁴, so records kept only for the federal minimum may not reach back far enough; ask counsel how long to keep them.

For drive time, record each segment with its start and end: sessions, drives between clients, waits and note time.

All of this applies to nonexempt employees covered by the FLSA; this guide assumes RBTs paid by the hour or session are in that group. The DOL’s 2024 independent contractor rule took effect on March 11, 2024¹¹. On May 1, 2025, Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-1 told investigators to stop applying it and use the July 2008 version of Fact Sheet #13, while noting that the 2024 rule remains in effect for private litigation¹¹. On February 27, 2026, the DOL proposed to rescind the 2024 rule and return to the analysis of its January 7, 2021 rule, with modifications, centered on control over the work and the opportunity for profit or loss; comments closed April 28, 2026¹¹. When we checked the Federal Register on October 16, 2026, no final rule had been published. If your RBTs are paid as contractors, have counsel review that classification.

Florida’s $15.00 rate runs through December 31, 2027. From September 2027 the rate is adjusted each year for inflation, and each new rate takes effect the following January 1⁴⁵. The federal contractor test may change if the DOL finalizes its February 2026 proposal¹¹.

This article explains the rules; it is not legal or payroll advice. A lawyer or payroll professional must confirm how they apply to your pay plan, your contracts and your workers.