The pen-pushers in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have crept up on us and hit businesses with yet another ruling on the Working Time Directive that will ramp up employment costs.
Its latest judgement has ruled that travel to and from home for mobile workers must be counted as “working time” and not “travelling time”. Sales reps and people like plumbers and other trades people, basically non-office based workers who travel to different sites each day, are now supposed to be paid for their travelling time, to and from the job. Put simply, that means one of my engineers who lives outside London, but has to travel for an hour to get to his first job in the capital, will have to be paid for that time rather than from when the job starts. It’s worth noting as well, this’ll also impact on the public sector and its own mobile workforce, which will also put further strain on their already reduced-budgets. Can you imagine the amounts of extra red tape it’s going to take to run this ludicrous system where companies are going to have to monitor what time people get out the front door and what time they go back in? And, of course, whatever way you look at it, there is going to be a higher cost for the same amount of work being done. It’s just another attack on entrepreneurship from people who just don’t understand, or live in, the real world. While the union leeches will be rubbing their hands and crowing about how this will help squeeze everything out of employers that their members are entitled, most people accept they might have to travel to get to work. Read more from Charlie Mullins:
Norman Tebbit famously told the nation’s workforce to “get on their bikes” to get a job – but I bet he never expected that companies would have to compensate workers for that cycle journey! It’s also pretty ironic when you consider the government is so keen on improving the nation’s transport infrastructure to enable people to commute further to work to improve job opportunities and economic productivity. And it backs up the call from the Institute of Directors (IoD), which is encouraging David Cameron to ensure employment policy is high on his European renegotiation agenda. Despite what the ECJ ruling might suggest, I reckon most people aren’t militant about having to make their journey to work. And where is it going to end? What really is the difference between someone who travels to a job on a different site every day, and someone who spends the same amount of time going to the same office each day? Looks to me like that’ll be the next place Europe will be sticking its unwelcome nose into! Whatever they do next, this barmy piece of legislation will hurt someone. Either businesses have to take a hit or it will impact on customers. Customers want a quality service, but they still want value for money and won’t keep paying more and more. That’ll mean firms will end up pricing themselves out of the market because each will have to deal with added costs imposed by a bunch of bureaucrats with no business sense whatsoever.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.