I have searched the forum, but have not found a specific answer to this. If it is here, I apologize for the duplication.

My office in my home, is my home office from which I am based/classified.. I work for an insurance company based in Illinois. They consider me a resident employee (work out of home) and am classified as non-exempt. I have a company paid phone line/fax in my home and conduct email etc from my home prior to leaving for my assigments which are at various locations throughout the state. My vehicle is my own, and I am paid mileage every mile away from home during the day.
Since I am working prior to leaving my home, is the commute in any way shape or form non-working time? Does the use of a cell phone on the commute constitute work performed?
My employer has just advised they are owed a normal commute of 2 hrs per day, 1 hr morning and afternoon. Thanks.

You raise a very interesting question...one for which I could not find a definitive answer within the US DOL website. However, looking athe Portal-to-Portal Act, the Act does discuss that the Act was intended to exclude the time in commuting to the principal activity of the employer. Since, I assume, that your principal activity is not the work you perform at home but rather the time you spend going to your assignments, my guess is that the time between your home and your first assignment is not considered as compensble time. You may wish to talk with the US DOL for confirmation. If you want to read the Portal-to-Portal Act, you can find it at: http://www.osha.gov/pls/epub/wageindex.download?p_file=F8840/wh1056.pdf