Social care businesses across Dorset and Hampshire could be hit hard by the new European ruling on employees’ travelling time, warn employment law solicitors at Coles Miller.
Highly mobile employees who travel to more than one place of employment can now count time spent travelling to their first job of the day as work time, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.
That also applies to time spent travelling home from a mobile worker’s last job of the day.
The ECJ made its ruling in the case of Federación de Servicios Privados del Sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security SL and another.
Coles Miller Partner Neil Andrews said the new ruling would have a significant and disproportionate impact on social care providers across the UK.
“This new ruling will affect care assistants who have to visit a number of clients as part of their normal working day,” he said.
“Employers must take these journeys into account by law - especially as the extra time spent travelling to and from work could take their employees’ salaries below the National Minimum Wage.
“This new ruling by the ECJ represents yet another legal headache for social care employers in a highly regulated sector which already has to operate on very thin profit margins.
“Social care employers are already looking at having to fund wage increases following Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to increase salaries to the £9 Living Wage by 2020,” he added.
For further information on employment law, please contact Coles Miller Partner Neil Andrews, who leads the firm’s Commercial Department, 01202 355695.
