Working time and travelling to first job of day

Working time and travelling to first job of day

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.

The Advocate General has published his opinion on whether time spent travelling to the first assignment or job of the day by workers who do not have a fixed static place of work, is working time for the purposes of calculating working time limits, and by extension, the minimum wage.

A very worrying opinion has been published that states that such time IS WORKING TIME.

Many employers in the construction and care industries do not count the first trip of the day, from home to work. In the construction industry especially, this can be many hours.  The same applies to the journey home.

While the opinion of the Advocate General is not binding, it is a strong indication of what the European Court will rule, and that will be binding.

We suggest that rather than wait for a large claim for back pay, employers correct this or deal with the point now.  This will at least start the 3-month time limit running, to put claims out of reach of employees.

If you want to discuss how you might deal with this, please call either Darren or Trula on 01242 250039.

The full opinion can be read at the following link: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document_print.jsf?doclang=EN&text=&pageIndex=0&part=1&mode=req&docid=164944&occ=first&dir=&cid=343751

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