Don’t Fall Asleep on DOL’s New Guidance for Time Truck Drivers Spend in Sleeper Berth

In a recent Department of Labor Opinion Letter, FLSA2019-10, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) addressed the question of whether the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay truck drivers for time spent not working in the truck’s sleeper berth. The WHD offered its opinion that time spent in a sleeper berth in which a driver is relieved of all duties and permitted to sleep is presumptively non-working, off-duty time that is not compensable. The WHD relied on the plain language of FLSA regulations, which provide that “[a]n employee who drives a truck, bus, automobile, boat or airplane . . . is working while riding, except during bona fide meal periods or when he is permitted to sleep in adequate facilities furnished by the employer.” 29 C.F.R. § 785.41.