Travelling To and From Work: Does It Count As Working Time?

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on the 10 September 2015 that journeys to and from work made by mobile workers with no stable base must count as working time, under the Working Time Directive (WTD). However, it is at the discretion of employer whether or not the employees will be paid for the time they spend travelling to and from work.

What is the Working Time Directive?

Under the UK Working Time Regulations (WTR) 1998, working time is defined as any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal, and carrying out his or her activities or duties (this also includes any period during which he or she is receiving relevant training).

The time that an employee to travels to and from work is generally not counted as part of their working hours, however, any travelling they are doing whilst at work as part of their work duties is.

An example might be a delivery driver whose working time begins from where they collect the delivery vehicle and then includes time spent driving and waiting around for collections / drop offs whilst on the job.

ECJ Ruling

A recent Spanish case came into the European Court of Justice whereby a group of mobile workers (who had no fixed working base or office) were instructed by their company, that no matter where the first and last job of the day was located, any time spent travelling between that location and their home would not be counted as ‘working time’. These work locations could be anywhere up to 100km away, adding substantially to the amount of time spent travelling in order for the workers to complete the work and return home.

The European Court of Justice deemed that the time spent by these mobile workers travelling to and from the first work location is now to be considered as ‘working time’, and thus an amendment to the Working Time Directive (WTD) has been made.

How does this affect UK employers?

This ruling has significant implications for companies that employ mobile workers (e.g. travelling sales representatives) who spend a lot of time travelling between appointments. Since this European court ruling, the WTR will now count travel time to and from places of work which will now be amended for mobile workers without a stable base.

Taking into account the addition of travelling time to the employee’s existing ‘working time’, employers must be careful that mobile workers are not working too many hours without adequate rest.

Will this affect salary calculations?

At present, the changes made in the European courts do not automatically impact salary or bonus calculations, as the Working Time Directive (WTD), to which the ruling applies, has no bearing on employee pay. Instead the National Minimum Wage regulations determine whether or not time spent travelling to or from work should be paid, and currently, it remains that it is not paid for mobile workers or otherwise.

Therefore, it will be at the discretion of employers to determine whether they will increase pay in line with the extra hours that are to be included within the employee’s ‘working time’.

Practical guidance if you have mobile employees

• Ensure overall working time and rest breaks are adequate e.g.  employees must be able to take at least 11 hours’ rest between getting home at night and setting off again the following morning.
• Make sure you state in the employee’s written particulars of employment that he or she is required to work at various places.
• Consider scheduling early and late appointments at sites close to employees’ homes to reduce the amount of travelling time.
• Review your pay practices in relation to mobile workers, and specifically, the payment for the time spent travelling between home and customers.
• This is at the employer’s discretion and doesn’t have to be the same rate as ‘salaried hours’ work and is exempt from National Minimum Wage Regulations – as long as the worker’s travelling time doesn’t take them over the maximum working week.
• Consider a Working Time Regulations Opt Out Agreement which employees have the option to sign.

How can we support you?

If you are not sure whether or not these changes may affect your employees; feel free to give us a call and we can offer you some advice and support.

Helpful Links

Click here to read the full details of the aforementioned court case of Federación de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.) v Tyco Integrated Security SL, Tyco Integrated Fire & Security Corporation Servicios SA.