Defending Travel-Time Claims: The DOL Letters That Become a Complete Defense

Christian Antkowiak, Shareholder | Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Christian Antkowiak is a Shareholder at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC in Pittsburgh and Co-Chair of the firm’s Labor, Employment, Benefits & Immigration (LEBI) section, a group of more than 75 practice-specific lawyers nationwide recognized among the largest and most respected within full-service law firms. He defends employers in class and collective actions — including Title III public accommodation and wage and hour claims — and in discrimination, harassment, and retaliation matters, and represents clients in agency enforcement actions before OSHA, the NLRB, and the DOL. He also counsels employers on restrictive covenants and trade secret protection, employment agreements and compensation, workplace policies, ADA and FMLA leave, pay practice audits, and traditional labor relations, including collective bargaining negotiations.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Antkowiak earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from Duquesne University School of Law (2008), an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh (2004), an M.S. in Politics from Oxford University (2002), and a B.S., magna cum laude, in Political Science and Philosophy from Allegheny College (2001). He is admitted in Pennsylvania; before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits; and before U.S. District Courts in Pennsylvania (Eastern, Western, and Middle Districts), Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas (Southern and Western Districts), Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Washington.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Antkowiak has been selected annually to The Best Lawyers in America® since 2020 in Employment Law – Management, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defense, and Labor Law – Management, and was named the 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” for Employment Law – Management in Pittsburgh — a distinction held by less than 0.4% of practicing lawyers. In addition to co-chairing Buchanan’s LEBI section, he serves as Co-Chair of the Employment Law Practice Group of Legalink, an international legal network, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Antkowiak serves on the American Bar Association’s Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Labor Relations Policy Committee (Wage, Hour and Leave Subcommittee), and the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Sports Law Committee. He is a contributing author to the American Bar Association’s Fair Labor Standards Act treatise, a frequent speaker at national employment law conferences, and is regularly quoted in the popular press and business publications on labor and employment law trends.

• Experience

Mr. Antkowiak’s practice spans the full range of management-side labor and employment work, from defending class and collective actions and agency enforcement matters to negotiating collective bargaining agreements. His experience includes involvement in the first representation case processed under the NLRB’s “quickie election” rules in Region 16.

Christopher M Cascino, Shareholder | Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Christopher M. Cascino is a Shareholder in Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC’s Tampa Bay office with over 15 years of experience representing clients in labor and employment matters. Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Florida Board of Legal Specialization — one of fewer than 200 Florida board-certified labor and employment attorneys — he pairs his legal acumen with a close understanding of each client’s business environment to guide organizations toward strategic outcomes. His practice focuses on workplace class actions, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions, and California Private Attorneys General Act litigation, and he counsels employers on wage and hour compliance, terminations and disciplinary actions, workforce reductions, leave and time-off policies, discrimination claims under Title VII, Title IX, the ADA, and age discrimination laws, and California Labor Code compliance.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Cascino earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School (2008) and his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame (2005). He is admitted in California, Florida, and Illinois, and before U.S. District Courts in Florida (Middle, Northern, and Southern Districts), Illinois (Northern and Southern Districts), Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Cascino is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Florida Board of Legal Specialization, a nationally recognized credential held by fewer than 200 Florida attorneys in the field.

• Professional Involvement

Chris Cascino is a frequent speaker on labor and employment law matters, having presented for the Illinois State Bar Association, Suncoast HR, and Lorman Education Services on topics including employment law, FLSA collective actions, wage and hour laws, FMLA, and ADA compliance. He is also a contributing author to the Florida Small Business Practice and has published in the Florida Bar Journal on recent developments in FLSA collective action certification.

• Experience

Mr. Cascino’s results include successfully defending a collective action misclassification claim, securing summary judgment in race discrimination cases, managing three California putative class actions to resolution through individual settlements, defending nationwide collective actions, and securing an arbitration victory in a retaliatory discharge claim.

SESSION 1 – Auditing Commute and Travel-Time Policies to Capture the New Safe Harbor | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session examines the DOL’s July 2026 companion opinion letters FLSA2026-9 and FLSA2026-10, which formally recognize a ‘third category’ of noncompensable commute time and draw a bright line between incidental and integral pre-commute tasks. Attorneys will learn how to conduct a five-step audit of commute and travel-time policies—covering hybrid, split-shift, field-service, and multi-site arrangements—to align with the new DOL framework and establish a documented good-faith defense under Section 10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act. Attendees will leave equipped to identify technology traps, apply the incidental/integral distinction, and overlay state-law requirements that can defeat a federal-only compliance strategy.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Defending the Travel-Time Collective: Certification Opposition and Exposure Control | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session equips defense-side employment attorneys with substantive and procedural tools to oppose FLSA collective action certification in travel-time cases, challenge personal jurisdiction over out-of-state opt-in plaintiffs, and deploy DOL opinion letters and recent circuit decisions to limit or eliminate liquidated-damages exposure. Attorneys will leave with a working command of the diverging certification standards across the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits following Swales, Clark, Richards, and Harrington, and a framework for structuring certification opposition arguments around individualized travel-time variations. The session also covers how to use DOL Opinion Letters FLSA2026-9 and FLSA2026-10 and FAB 2025-3 as substantive shields to liquidate damages at both the pre-litigation and litigation stages.