New EU court ruling defines certain types of travelling as working time

Field-based workers could see a change to the way their hours are calculated following an EU ruling that defines certain types of business-related travel as working time.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that for workers without a fixed office, time spent travelling to and from first and last appointments should be regarded as working time.

This discussion arose following a legal case in Spain surrounding Tyco, a security systems firm, which shut its regional offices down in 2011, thus compelling employees to travel varying distances before arriving at their first appointment.

According to the judges, these potentially substantial variations in the time spent commuting need to be factored in when looking after the safety and health of workers, particularly as regards the need to guarantee staff a minimum rest period.

The court ruling said: "The fact that the workers begin and finish the journeys at their homes stems directly from the decision of their employer to abolish the regional offices and not from the desire of the workers themselves."

It is expected that this ruling could affect millions of workers across Europe, specifically those in field-based positions. It comes as part of efforts to ensure no employee in the EU is obliged to work more than an average of 48 hours a week.