In September 2015 we reported on a European case that had found that travel time could and should be counted as working time for the purposes of the Working Time Directive, which is embedded in our national law via the Working Time Regulations 1998.

However, the circumstances of this case were quite unusual and may not apply to many employers:

The two defendant companies employed technicians to install and maintain security systems – each technician had a dedicated geographical area. The technicians initially were employed to work from an office within their geographical area and would go to that office in the morning to collect their vehicle and jobs list and return to that office at the end of their working day to return the vehicle. Their working time was classed as the time from when they left the office in the morning to go to their first job to when they returned to the office following their last job. This was fine.

The issue arose when the defendant companies closed the local offices. From that point, the technicians kept their vehicles at home and received their jobs list electronically. They travelled directly from their home to their first job and returned home directly from their last job. Their working time was classed as the time from when they arrived at their first job to when they left their last job. Sometimes their jobs could be more than 100km away from home which meant that there could be a lot of travel time at either end of their day which as no longer counted as working time.

The ECJ held that this was an unfair practice and breached working time rules. The decision of the ECJ was that time spent travelling to the first job of the day and home from the last job of the day should be counted as working time.

Although this case was focussed on working time and hours worked, it is highly likely to have an impact on pay as working time should of course be paid and any hourly paid employee in the same circumstances may be able to claim additional pay.

As always, my direct dial is 01484 821309 or my email address is katebooth@eatonsmith.co.uk

The information contained in this article is for information only, is not exhaustive and does not constitute legal advice. You should take specific legal advice before acting on any of the issues raised in this article.