Time spent travelling to and from the first and last assignment of the day (mobile workers)
[ch 4: page 106]Mobile workers (those whose job involves them travelling from place to place instead of being based in a specific location) are entitled to at least the national minimum wage for time spent travelling to and from the first and last appointment of the day. This was established in an important ruling by the ECJ, Federacion de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones obreras v Tyco Integrated Security SL [2015] EUECJ C-266/14.
The case concerned “working time” under the Working Time Directive, rather than national minimum wage eligibility (see Working Time - Mobile Workers, on page 125). Even so, the ruling will have implications in negotiations over pay for travel time for low-paid, mobile hourly workers, because their hourly rate must not fall below the NMW once travel time is added to the working day.