The return to the offices after the stoppage of the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us how something that was always natural can change and has started a debate about the advantages of teleworking compared to the advantages of going to the office, in addition to many social studies to understand the impact of the various ways of carrying out tasks.
We have seen How much more does a worker spend in Spain? that he goes to his job every day and also that if you telework in Spain you have a year 10 extra days of time free vs. who goes to the office by the time we save on average going to and from the office to work.
Now, a pioneer ruling in Madrid has said that the time a person spends going to and from work every day should be paid. But the sentence has nuances: specifically, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has determined that if a company changes work center to a professional with reduced hours to facilitate reconciliation, and the new location takes more time to travelthis increase in time is considered work.
How was the performance of the company
The complaining woman had reduced day, to be able to combine her tasks with the care of her daughter, as the law allows. He left his post work at 3 to be able to pick her up at school. There was a 35 minute distance between the two places. But the company changed the location of the office and the new place was 80 minutes from the school of the minor.
For that reason, the statement has determined that the additional minutes of the offset should be used as during business hours. Both at the entrance and in the afternoon when leaving.
In any case, according to the Workers’ Statute and according to other regulations in Spain and Europe, commuting is not working hours. The Court of Justice of the European Union has repeatedly declared that Directive 2003/88/EC and the Workers’ Statute define the concept of working time as any period during which the worker remains at work, available of the employer and in the exercise of his activity or functions, and that this concept is conceived in contrast to the rest period.
Snack can also be work hours
On the other hand, there is also a sentence that has become known today, in which the supreme court (TS) has ruled that the time dedicated to snack it is computed as working hours if accidents occur at that time, even if that accident occurs outside the workplace. The sentence puts an end to an event from 2016, when a worker suffered a fall when he was going to have a snack at a bar located 60 meters from his workplace.
The accident caused a temporary disability to the worker and this led to a file that concluded with the declaration of an accident at work and the liability of the mutual. Thursdays say that the accident took place on the occasion of work, in the half hour break that exists as part of the company’s collective agreement.