Health and Safety Law 2024 (October 2024)
There is an exception for mobile workers, that is workers with no “fixed or habitual” place of work. The ECJ has ruled that for a mobile worker with a daily schedule of appointments, travelling time to and from the first and last appointment of the day will normally be working time. This is because while travelling, the mobile worker is at the employer’s disposal, carrying out the employer’s activities and working (Federacion de Servicios Privados del Sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security s.l. [2015] EUEJC C-266/14). This important case was brought by a Spanish trade union on behalf of workers at a fire and security equipment company. The company was not counting journeys workers made from their homes to customers’ premises that were taking up to 15 hours a week. This ruling does not apply to people’s daily commute to and from their normal workplace. That is not working time.
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