Q. "When and how do I pay employees that travel?"

Answer:

It depends! Paying employees for travel time depends on the type of travel and their work schedule. Here’s a quick breakdown to help guide you:

Home-to-Work Travel: Regular commuting to an employee’s usual worksite—like driving to the church office for daily responsibilities—is not paid.
Same-Day Travel to Another City: If your youth director travels to a neighboring city for a one-day leadership conference and returns the same day, all travel time during the day is compensable. However, you can deduct the time they’d normally spend commuting to the church.
Travel Between Worksites: Traveling between ministry locations, such as driving between your main campus and a satellite location, is considered work time and must be paid.
Overnight Travel: If a worship leader flies to a worship conference requiring an overnight stay, time spent traveling as a passenger during normal work hours is compensable—even on a weekend. For example, if their regular hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM, only travel time during those hours must be paid.
Driving for Work: If a church staff member drives to a retreat center instead of taking a provided shuttle, all driving time is compensable. However, if they choose to drive when public transportation was an option, you may pay only for travel time during normal work hours.
Work While Traveling: If your missions coordinator works on event planning while flying to an international ministry partner, they must be paid for that work—even if it occurs outside their usual work hours.