This is an interesting discussion that the supervisor had with the employee because what she is asking reflects on the Portal to Portal act, which is a piece of legislation that explains how you pay employees for time, personal time when they are traveling.
And so in this case, the employee, depending upon whether they’re exempt or non-exempt, the Portal to Portal Act applies to a non-exempt individual, and in that case, the employee should be paid during the time that they would normally be working, even if that was on the weekend. If the employee is exempt, then absolutely the employer does not have to pay them.
However, goodwill would be that the supervisor should have said, I understand you’re gonna be working on Sunday to travel and you’re gonna be working after hours on Wednesday to get back to your home. And the supervisor should have said in exchange for that, I will give you another day off that works for both us and the company.
