Is the time you spend travelling at your boss's request considered working time? The European Court of Justice believes so

There are journeys that workers make at the request of their employer, which are considered working time. In the case analysed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), workers at a public company dedicated to sustainability and the environment travelled between the company's base and the natural areas where they carried out their activities. We analyse the case and tell you what the CJEU considers.

The case: travel at the employer's request

In this case, there were several workers who were part of teams operating in different geographical areas of the Valencian Community. The company established a base for each team, which was the point from which they departed. The workers had to report at a set time and from there they left in their vehicles to different locations to carry out their work. At the end of the working day, they returned to the starting point with the vehicle and then returned home in their own vehicles.

The conflict arose because the time spent travelling between the base and the place where the activity was carried out was not recognised as working time in the employment contracts. However, the company recognised the time spent travelling to the place of work, but not the time spent travelling back.

The claim: What is and what is not working time?

As a result of all of the above and contradictory court rulings on similar issues, the Valencia Court that analysed the case referred it to the CJEU. The ruling of this court refers to the European directive which analyses the concept of working time, establishing that it is ‘any period during which the worker remains at work, at the disposal of the employer and carrying out his activity or duties’.

Any time that meets all these criteria is considered working time.

Does the case analysed by the CJEU meet all the requirements?

Let's take a look:

• Exercise of the activity. In the case analysed, the journeys made between the base and the natural area where the work is to be carried out are necessary for the performance of the work and are organised by the employer.
• Availability of the worker to the employer. During this journey, workers receive specific instructions from the company: the time and place where they must be, the means of transport they will use, and the route they must take. In short, this is time that the worker cannot use at will, but is at the disposal of the employer.
• Continuity at work. Workers do not have a fixed place of work, so travel is essential for them to carry out their activity. Therefore, this travel time is part of the employment relationship and is therefore considered working time.

What is effective working time?

We tend to think of effective working time as the time we spend doing our job, but there are many activities that raise doubts as to whether or not they constitute working time, for example:

• Training received outside the workplace.
• Attending an event on behalf of your company.
• Travelling to another location to carry out your work at the employer's request.

We have already seen the definition of working time, and the counterpart to this is the definition of rest time, which simply put is the time when no work is carried out. The European directive regulating this issue establishes that a minimum rest period of 11 consecutive hours per 24-hour period is required.

Regulation of working hours in the Workers' Statute

The Workers' Statute regulates working hours in Articles 34 et seq. and establishes several important elements:

• The length of the working day shall be as agreed in collective agreements or employment contracts.
• The maximum length of the ordinary working day shall be 40 hours per week.
• There shall be a minimum of 12 hours between the end of one working day and the start of the next.
• The number of ordinary hours of actual work may not exceed 9 per day, unless another distribution of daily working time is established by collective agreement or by agreement between the company and the workers' representatives. In such cases, the rest period between working days must be respected.
• When the daily working day exceeds 6 hours, a rest period of not less than 15 minutes must be established, which shall be considered effective working time when so established by collective agreement or employment contract.

Rulings analysing what is and what is not working time

Let's look at several examples analysed by rulings from various courts to see what is and what is not considered working time:

Is the time spent travelling within the workplace until the worker reaches their workstation considered working time?

The Supreme Court considers that it is not, because during that time the worker is not at the employer's disposal, it is simply a necessary journey to get to the workplace.

Is a period of on-call duty working time?

According to the CJEU, it is not considered working time either if the worker has the freedom to devote that time to their personal interests.

If I receive training outside my workplace, is it considered working time?

This time is considered working time because it is understood that the worker is at the employer's disposal.

What happens if a worker provides services to several employers?

In this case, we have a worker who has more than one employment contract with several employers. The question is whether, in this case, it is possible for rest time and working time to overlap, as there are two or more contracts. The CJEU's answer is no, that the minimum rest period of 11 hours must always be guaranteed.

In short, it is necessary to see, in each case, whether the requirements of the European directive we have seen are met.

If you have any labour disputes or questions about your working time, contact us and we will help you.