Traveling to work is considered work hours?

Time spent travelling to and from first and last appointments by workers without a fixed office should be regarded as working time, the European Court of Justice has ruled.- BBC News, (www.bbc.com/news/uk-34210002)

I was surprised to learn about this piece of information. I first heard it last week two weeks ago, can't be too sure, but I didn't pay much attention to it. While reading about it I also got a chance to look closely at EU's Working Time Directive (WTD.)

I like how the court ruling is pro-workers. Basically the WTD, ensures that each employee works a 9 hour 5 day shift with a maximum of 3 hours overtime per week. Putting the employees best interest first and guaranteeing that they get enough rest, access to health care, an option to switch from night to day shift if he or she chooses and protection from over work if your field is hazardous, i.e, you work at night or involving heavy machinery.

(Actually the law says 48 hours a week, I just did the basic math and assumed that it's a 9 hour 5 day work week.)

Okay, now that we're acquainted with WTD let's go back to the court ruling and why I'm talking about this in my blog even if I'm not in EU.

This is relevant news, and we should promote social economic awareness after all one economy's rise or fall directly or indirectly affects all countries. Also after hearing a handful of my fellow country men talking about it I felt like I needed to see if it was applicable to Filipinos too.

Who are affected by the ruling?
Those without a permanent office, including sales representatives, installers of equipments, care workers.

Why are they affected?
Because there is no uniformity in the commute from one point to another. Unlike people who work in the office 9am-5pm.

What does the ruling do?
It protects workers from being unfairly compensated. If employee A takes 4 hours to get home because her last meeting was outside the city, it would mean that she is compensated for the effort and energy she spent that could have been used to rest.

What would it mean if we have the same law in the Philippines?
If you're (a) company doesn't have a permanent office address, (b) you commute directly from home to clients because of reason a, you should be compensated the moment you live the house to see a client. Why? Because the time you spend on public commute varies everyday. Unlike when you have an actual office to go to everyday before going to client meetings.

So folks having learned all that, if you work in an office or an institution with a permanent address, this does not affect you so the hopes of getting paid while stuck in EDSA is gone for now. Imagine how much you'd have made if you were paid on September 8? You were just there. Stuck. Let's continue to hope for better roads and mass transit and traffic.

Xo,
Paula