Ordinary commuting from home to a regular workplace generally isn't paid time, but travel a production specifically requires, distant location moves, mandatory group transport, and company moves between set locations, generally is. That travel time counts toward daily and weekly overtime calculations, and a per diem is not automatically a substitute for it.
In This Article
Production schedules routinely involve more travel than a typical office job: distant locations, early call times at a remote basecamp, and moves between multiple set locations in a single day. Whether that travel is paid time depends on specific legal rules, not on how the production office characterizes it on the call sheet.
The General Rule: Commute vs. Compensable Travel
An ordinary commute from home to a regular, fixed worksite is generally unpaid, the same rule that applies in any industry. That shifts once an employer requires travel beyond a normal commute as part of the job, to a distant location or a specific meeting point for group transport. The key question is whether the production is actually directing and requiring the travel, not just whether time is being spent getting somewhere.
Productions that shoot at several recurring locations, rotating between two or three sets rather than one fixed studio, sit somewhere in between, and how much say a crew member had in getting there often decides which category applies. A crew member hired specifically for a distant location shoot, required to report to a designated staging area, is in a meaningfully different position than someone commuting to the same studio every day.
A crew member is required to meet at a hotel each morning for a van ride to a remote desert location 45 minutes away. That daily round-trip commute time is generally compensable, unlike an ordinary drive to a fixed studio.
Distant Location Shoots and Mandatory Transport
When a production requires cast or crew to travel to a distant location, particularly with mandatory group transportation like a van from a hotel to a remote set, that travel time is generally compensable. This is distinguishable from driving yourself on your own schedule when the production doesn't require a specific mode or timing, though the actual facts and policy matter.
Distant location work also often involves an early crew call at a basecamp well before the first shot, specifically to organize transport to a remote site, and that check-in time is generally part of the compensable workday too. The key factor is control: once a production designates a specific departure time and vehicle crew must use, that looks like directed work time rather than personal travel.
Company Moves Between Set Locations
A "company move," relocating cast, crew, and equipment from one location to another during a shoot day, is travel the production is actively directing during working hours, and is almost always compensable. Crew waiting during a move, or riding along in required transport, are working during that window even though no scene is being shot, the same way any other on-the-clock waiting time would be treated.
A one-hour company move in the middle of the day means the total shift is an hour longer than a schedule that only counts "time actually shooting" on each end would suggest.
A company move that pushes a crew member's fifth hour of work later than it otherwise would have been can also delay when a meal break is legally required, creating a second violation on top of any overtime issue.
When Travel Time Pushes You Into Overtime
Compensable travel time counts toward the same daily and weekly thresholds as any other work time. A crew member who spends two hours on required transport and then works a 10-hour shoot day has worked 12 hours, not 10, for overtime purposes, and the same math applies when travel pushes total weekly hours past 40.
This becomes especially significant on multi-day location shoots where crew are transported daily from a hotel to a remote set, since even an hour or two of daily travel adds up fast across a two-week schedule. Pay calculated only off time on set, excluding required travel, is very likely undercounting the actual hours worked, and the cumulative effect across a whole shoot can be substantial.
Per Diem vs. Wages: They're Not the Same Thing
A per diem is generally meant to reimburse actual out-of-pocket costs, meals, incidentals, sometimes lodging. It is not a substitute for wages owed for compensable travel time, and a flat per diem intended to cover expenses doesn't satisfy a separate wage obligation, even when both show up on the same pay statement.
Because per diems generally aren't subject to payroll tax withholding the way wages are, a production has a real financial incentive to characterize as much pay as possible as per diem rather than wages, which is worth scrutinizing when a pay structure leans unusually heavily on it.
What to Track
Keep a record of when required travel actually started and ended each day, separate from your specific call time, including company moves and mandatory group transport. Run your full day through our Overtime Pay Calculator to see whether that additional time changes your overtime calculation, and flag any pattern where required travel isn't reflected in your actual pay.
If your production issued a written transportation policy, hold onto a copy of it, since the language describing required versus optional travel can be directly relevant to whether that time should have been paid. Keep this log consistently, not just on days that feel unusually long, since the cumulative effect is often what reveals the real size of the problem.
This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal, tax, or financial advice for your specific situation, and may not reflect the most current law. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with the Law Offices of Corey A. Pingle. If you're dealing with a real workplace issue, contact our office or start a free case review to get guidance based on your actual facts.