News Article

Federacion de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security SL and another In a Spanish case that was referred to the European Court of Justice, the question of whether travel time must be included in the working time for mobile workers was addressed.

---

Under the Working Time Directive, working time is any period during which a worker is working, at their employer’s disposal and carrying out their activities or duties. Time spent by a worker travelling to and from their workplace does not normally count as working time. The Spanish company argued that the first journey from home to the first appointment or the last journey from the last assignment to home do not count as “working time”. 

For mobile workers or those who do not have a fixed place of work, the ECJ ruled that time spent by mobile workers travelling between home and their rst and last appointments counts as working time for the purposes of the Working Time Directive. This decision has an implication for employers under the Working Time Directive especially where employees have not opted out of the 48 hour average weekly limit. The other two aspects for employers to consider would be the rest breaks between shifts and whether the health and safety of their employees is at risk. 

Employers will need to review current contracts for any staff who are either homeworkers (and who may be required to travel for work), mobile workers or those who do not have a fixed place of work to ensure they are not falling foul of the Working Time Regulations. 

For any further advice or information please contact the team here at SFB Consulting. Our offices are based in Bishop’s Stortford and London, but we offer our services and consultancy UK wide. 

T:01279 874 676 

E:info@sfb-consulting.com