Change to Working Time - Applicable only for those without a fixed place of work

Posted  14th September 2015

Following the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday, you may have seen a lot of information on the news regarding changes to working time and ensuring compliance with the Working Time Regulations.

The ECJ’s decision is unlikely to impact significantly on Schools, as it only applies to workers that do not have a fixed or habitual place of work (sometimes referred to peripatetic workers). Where staff fall into this category, the ECJ confirmed that the time spent travelling from home, to the premises of the first customer, and from the last customer home again, constituted ‘working time,’ within the meaning of the Working Time Directive and that staff should therefore be paid for this time.

Whilst this decision is unlikely to have a significant impact on a majority of schools, peripatetic teachers may of course consider increasing their charges on the basis of this decision. Within other sectors, this is likely to have a greater impact on staffing costs.

If you do have any further queries regarding this recent decision please do not hesitate to contact us.

Judicium Education


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