Travelling to Work is Work rules CJEU
A recent decision of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) focused on the question of what constitutes “working time” for the purposes of the Working Time Directive (Directive 2003/88/EC). Article 2 of the directive defines ‘working time’ as any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activity or duties. The CJEU ruled that ‘working time’ under the Directive extends to the times spent travelling to and from home by an employee who does not have a fixed working base.
The Decision
The case was brought by Spanish workers at Tyco, a security systems company. Following the closure of Tyco’s regional offices in Spain in 2011, all employees became attached to the central office in Madrid. Technicians employed to install and maintain security equipment in homes and businesses were assigned geographical areas and were required to travel journeys of up to three hours to carry out their duties. They were not paid for their hours spent travelling between home and customers as the company considered this time as ‘rest time’. The employees argued that this time spent commuting should be classified as working time. The CJEU agreed with the employees and declared that where workers do not have a fixed place of work, the time spent by those workers travelling each day between their homes and the premises of the first and last customers designated by their employer constitutes working times within the meaning of the Directive.
Implications of the Decision
The Tyco case is relevant from an Irish perspective as the Irish courts are obliged to interpret Irish laws in line with European legislation and decisions of the European courts. This case has the potential to have significant consequences for employers whose employees have no fixed workplace. They could be exposed to increased employment costs or the risk of claims for alleged breaches of working time legislation in relation to maximum weekly working hours and holidays by reference to the hours worked by an employee.