EU Court rulings on working time travel

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued rulings regarding the interpretation of the EU Working-Time Directive, specifically concerning when travel constitutes working time.

Initial rulings established that travel to a first client or between work sites must be treated as working time if the travel is organized by the employer and the employee remains at the employer's disposal. This distinction does not apply to ordinary daily commuting to a fixed workplace but affects mobile workers whose locations are assigned by their employers.

Recent decisions have further clarified these obligations. In a dispute involving a Spanish landscaping company, the court ruled that organized group travel to a work site using employer-provided vehicles must be classified as full working time. The court emphasized that the directive contains no separate category for “travel time” apart from working time and rest periods. For a journey to qualify, the employer must dictate the route, time, and vehicle, and the employee must not be free to use the time for personal purposes.

In case C-110/24, STAS-IV v VAERSA, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) extended this logic to mobile workers without a fixed workplace. The ruling determined that travel between a designated base and the actual site of duty—including the return journey—counts as working time if the employee is at the employer's disposal and lacks the freedom to manage their own time during transit. These rulings significantly impact sectors such as construction, cleaning, field services, and environmental protection, potentially leading to claims for back pay and requiring more precise time-tracking to ensure compliance with minimum wage regulations.