The decision sets a new European standard that when a job requires travel between a company base and the worksite, that time counts as work.
(CN) — Time on the road is time on the clock, according to a ruling Thursday from Europe’s top court compensating Spain’s environmental crews for the hours they spend traveling in company trucks between their base and the field.
The case centered on biodiversity workers represented by STAS-IV, a union that took on VAERSA, a state-owned company managing Valencia’s protected nature reserves. Each morning, crews drive to a local base by 8 a.m., load up VAERSA trucks with tools and head to remote sites. When the day ends at 3 p.m., they return to the base before going home.
For years, Spanish courts disagreed on whether that daily drive should count as work. Some said no, arguing that workers weren’t at their posts or actively performing duties. Others said yes. With conflicting rulings piling up, the Valencia High Court asked the EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg to decide.
The judges put the matter to rest. Citing EU employment law, they recalled that “working time means any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activity or duties.”
They added that the same rule “does not provide for any intermediate category between working time and rest periods, the two being mutually exclusive.” In short, if employees are under their employer’s direction, the clock is running.
That reasoning fit...
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