Time and payroll

What counts as hours worked on a construction job

Updated November 4, 2026 · 6 min read

Most wage claims against contractors are not about pay rates. They are about time that was worked but never recorded: the half hour loading the truck at the yard, the drive between two sites, the toolbox talk before the shift, the lunch eaten in the cab while watching the pump. The federal rules on what counts are clear, and the time is usually small per day, which is exactly why it adds up.

This guide covers the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules most relevant to site work, then the state rules that catch contractors out. It is general information, not legal advice. Union agreements, prevailing wage contracts and your state's law can add to these rules, so check what applies to each job.

What you have to record

For every non-exempt worker, federal law requires a record of the hours worked each workday and each workweek, along with pay details such as the regular rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, and deductions. No particular form or clock is required. Any method is acceptable as long as it is complete and accurate.

Keep payroll records for at least three years, and the time cards and schedules behind them for at least two. The IRS separately asks for employment tax records to be kept for at least four years, so many contractors keep everything for four.

The workweek and overtime

Federal overtime is time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek: a fixed, recurring block of 168 hours that you choose and then keep. It can start on any day and at any hour. Hours cannot be averaged across two weeks, so a 50-hour week followed by a 30-hour week still owes 10 hours of overtime.

When a worker is paid different rates in the same week, for example as a carpenter on one job and a laborer on another, overtime is based on the weighted average of those rates, not on the lower one.

Travel time

Home to the first site: ordinary commuting, not paid.
Between sites during the day: paid. Driving from one job to another is part of the day's work.
The shop or yard first: if workers have to report to the yard to get instructions, pick up tools or load materials, the drive from there to the site is paid, whatever the custom or agreement says.
Back to the yard at the end: paid if the worker has to return to drop off the truck or tools. Going straight home is commuting.

The "meet at the yard at 6:30, roll out at 7" habit is the most common source of unpaid hours on small crews.

Before and after the shift

Tasks done before or after the main work are paid when they are integral and indispensable to that work: loading the truck with the day's materials, fueling equipment, setting up tools. The fact that you require something does not on its own make it paid, but on site most required prep is part of the work.

Meetings, toolbox talks and training

A meeting or training session can be unpaid only if all four of these are true: it is outside normal hours, attendance is voluntary, it is not related to the job, and no other work is done. A required safety talk fails at least two of those, so toolbox talks are paid time.

Waiting

A crew standing by for a concrete truck, a crane or an inspector is engaged to wait, and that time is paid. A worker who is told they are off until 1 pm and is free to leave is waiting to be engaged, which is not paid. Being on call at the site is work. Being on call at home generally is not, unless the restrictions are so tight the person cannot use the time as their own.

Breaks and meals

Short rest breaks, typically 5 to 20 minutes, are paid.
A meal period, usually 30 minutes or more, can be unpaid only if the worker is completely relieved from duty. Eating in the cab while watching a pump, or at the bench while answering questions, is work.

Rounding and small amounts of time

Federal rules accept rounding to the nearest five minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour only if it is neutral over time, so that it does not end up underpaying workers. Only uncertain, scattered seconds or minutes can be ignored as too small to count. Regular, predictable time, even a few minutes a day, must be paid, and courts have held that ten minutes a day is not too small. The simplest safe practice is to record exact minutes and not round at all.

State rules that catch contractors out

Several states go further than federal law. The most common surprise is daily overtime:

State	Daily overtime	Notes
California	Over 8 hours a day at 1.5x; over 12 at 2x	Seventh consecutive day: first 8 hours at 1.5x, over 8 at 2x; weekly over 40 also applies
Alaska	Over 8 hours a day or 40 a week	Employers with four or more employees; voluntary flexible-hour plans can be filed with the state
Nevada	Over 8 hours in a 24-hour period	Applies only below a wage threshold tied to the state minimum wage; agreed 4x10 schedules are exempt
Colorado	Over 12 hours in a workday or 12 consecutive hours, or 40 a week	Set by the state's COMPS Order

California also has strict meal and rest period rules: a 30-minute meal period before the end of the fifth hour, a second before the end of the tenth, and a 10-minute rest period for every four hours worked or major fraction. A missed meal or rest period owes an extra hour of pay for that day. California courts have held that meal-period punches may not be rounded, and that time records showing short or late meals are presumed to show a violation unless the employer can show otherwise. Recording exact punches, and asking workers to confirm at clock-out whether they got their breaks, is the practical defence.

Why this matters

Back pay claims under the FLSA generally reach back two years, or three for willful violations, and can carry an equal amount again in damages plus attorney's fees. The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division reported recovering over $35.5 million in back wages for construction workers in fiscal year 2023, more than for any other industry.

A short checklist

Record exact start and stop times for every worker, every day.
Start the paid day at the yard when the yard is where the day starts.
Record travel between sites as work.
Pay toolbox talks and required training.
Record meal periods as taken, and pay them when the worker was not fully relieved.
Know which states your jobs are in, and whether they have daily overtime or break rules.
Keep the records for at least three years, four to be safe.