Taken from the telegraph media site
Time spent by tradesmen driving to first job of the day counts as work, European Court of Justice rules, as British government warns costs to business will increase
Time spent by plumbers, decorators and carers driving to their first customer of the day counts towards the 48-hour working week, a European court has ruled, in a decision the government admits will drive up costs for businesses.
In a defeat for the British government, the European Court of Justice ruled that time spent by tradesmen travelling between their home and their clients is “work”.
Under the EU Working Time Directive, British employees cannot work more than 48 hours in a week unless they choose to opt out.
Under UK government guidelines, time spent travelling at work does count towards the target. But “normal travel to and from work” and “travelling outside normal working hours” does not.
The court ruling contradicts that. Judges in Luxembourg adjudicated in a case brought by workers at Tyco, a Spanish company that installs burglar alarms.
While workers drove for up to three hours to clients’ premises, the company counted their working day for the purposes of the directive from the moment they arrived at the first client to the moment they left the last one.
The court ruled that was wrong, and said travelling time counts as “work” for employees such as tradesmen who do not have a fixed office.
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