I have worked in a clinic in Cedar Rapids for the last 18 years. Recently my clinic opened a satellite clinic in Manchester, and I am being forced to travel there 2 times a month. My office says they will only pay me for 28 miles of travel (actual mileage is 34.7 from my house to Manchester), and they will only pay me for 35 minutes of travel time (actual is 45 minutes). Is this legal? Manchester is NOT my primary place of employment.

The specifics make a difference with respect to this issue.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_785/29CFR785.37.htm

Is it fair to assume that you are traveling from home to the satellite worksite on these one-day assignments?

Under this scenario the travel time from your normal worksite to the satellite worksite would be compensable. It would not include the normal travel that results in your standard "home-to-work" commute.

You may disagree with the mileage reimbursement or time allocated for travel. My best guess is that these numbers provided to you were given as a result of careful consideration of the travel time requirements from your home worksite to the satellite. If your mileage reimbursement is less than the allowable amounts under IRS regs, you may claim the difference as a non-reimbursed business expense on your personal income tax returns. Please discuss with your tax advisors what records that you'd need to keep to substantiate this write-off.

Caveat: If you are an exempt employee, they don't HAVE to pay you anything at all.