In September 2015, the European Court of Justice ruled that time spent travelling to and from the first and last appointment for workers without a fixed office should be regarded as working time. It does not affect those workers with a fixed place of work. This ruling relates to the EU Working Time Directive and therefore also applies to the UK.
The ruling said: "The fact that the workers begin and finish the journeys at their homes stems directly from the decision of their employer to abolish the regional offices and not from the desire of the workers themselves.
"Requiring them to bear the burden of their employer's choice would be contrary to the objective of protecting the safety and health of workers pursued by the directive, which includes the necessity of guaranteeing workers a minimum rest period."
Employers should consider the effect on the pay of any peripatetic workers they may have. Specifically, it may have an impact on the National Living Wage or the National Minimum Wage if they are not already paid for this time. If these employees have opted out of the working time regulations, it should not have the effect of reducing working hours, but employers should ensure that mobile workers are able to take their entitlement of 11 hours’ rest between when they reach home from their last appointment to setting off for their first appointment next day.