18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies · Notable
Exempt home offices from OSHA rules and home-office costs from the regular rate
Printed page 590 18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies
“DOL should clarify that a home office is not subject to OSHA regulations and that time to set up a home office is not compensable time or eligible for overtime calculations. DOL should likewise clarify that reimbursement for home office expenses is not part of an employee’s regular rate, even if those reimbursements are repetitive (such as for internet or cell phone service).”
What has happened
- Not started
Neither half of this ask has moved. OSHA has issued no new directive on home offices — its position since CPL 02-00-125 (2000) is that it will not inspect home offices, but that is a pre-window enforcement policy and not the clarification the Quote asks for, and OSHA's directive index shows no home-office directive issued in the window. The Wage and Hour Division has issued nothing on whether home-office set-up time is compensable or whether repeated home-office expense reimbursements sit in the regular rate.
No action found yet. This entry is the starting point, not a finding.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- Negative search: chapter log, Cluster negative search — the telework and home-office asks (#1621, #1622, #1623).
- OSHA’s published directives for the window were enumerated from https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/search (osha.gov answers 200 to a browser User-Agent even though dol.gov does not — see the chapter log’s note on routes). The only FLSA-adjacent directive is the 2025-07-14 Field Operations Manual update to Chapter 6 on penalties, which is #1636’s object.
- Not
pre_satisfied: the pre-existing OSHA home-office policy answers only the first of the Quote’s three clauses, and the two FLSA clauses are untouched.
- Action
- restrict
- Object
- OSHA and FLSA treatment of home offices
- ID
- 1623