Paid for DOT physical time? What federal law and California require for company drivers

A non-union company driver in California asked on Reddit's r/Truckers forum: the carrier chose the clinic and paid for the DOT physical, but does it also owe wages for the hours spent there? Company drivers face the same question each time the medical card comes up for renewal.

The federal answer is in 29 CFR 785.43, the Labor Department's reading of hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Time at a medical appointment, including the wait, counts as hours worked when the employee is on the employer's premises or was sent by the employer, and the visit falls within normal working hours on a workday. The regulation does not address an exam taken on a day off.

California adds three rules. Labor Code 222.5 bars an employer from making an employee pay for a medical exam that federal, state or local law requires, or from deducting its cost from wages, and the DOT physical is required by federal rules. Wage Order 9, which covers the transportation industry, defines hours worked as all time an employee is subject to the employer's control and requires at least the minimum wage for every hour worked, whether pay is by time, piece or commission. For employees paid on a piece-rate basis, Labor Code 226.2 says other nonproductive time under the employer's control must be paid separately, at no less than the minimum wage, and shown on the wage statement. A clinic visit the carrier orders and schedules is time under its control that is not driving.

Wage Order 9's overtime section does not apply to drivers whose hours fall under the federal hours-of-service rules, but its minimum wage section does. A carrier that pays at least the minimum wage for every hour worked on top of the piece rate meets the 226.2 rule for nonproductive time. The federal regulation and the California statutes cover employees, not independent owner-operators.