Travel Time as Working Time – When Travel Counts

When it comes to travel time, three questions are constantly conflated that must be answered separately: Does the time count towards statutory maximum working hours and rest breaks? Does it have to be paid? And does it credit to the employee's working time account or flextime balance? The answers can diverge significantly under UK employment law.

Question 1: Working Time Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998 & Directive 2003/88/EC)

The decisive legal criterion under Regulation 2(1) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998) is whether the individual is working, carrying out their duties, and remaining at the employer's disposal.

The classification of self-driving as working time stems from the fact that navigating and operating a vehicle on the employer's instruction is an activity carried out in the employer's interest that demands full attention and concentration.

Question 2: Remuneration and the National Minimum Wage

Unlike working time limits, the obligation to pay for travel time is primarily governed by the contract of employment, subject to statutory minimum wage safeguards:

1. Contractual Terms: There is no statutory requirement in UK law to pay normal hourly rates or overtime for travel outside normal working hours, provided the contract of employment clearly specifies whether and how travel time is remunerated (for example, at basic pay, a reduced travel rate, or through time off in lieu).
2. National Minimum Wage Compliance: Under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA) and National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, time spent travelling on business (excluding ordinary commuting between home and a permanent base) constitutes "time work" or "unmeasured work". Employers must ensure that total remuneration in the pay reference period divided by total hours worked (including qualifying travel time) equals at least the statutory National Living Wage / National Minimum Wage. Complete exclusion of travel time from minimum wage calculations represents a serious compliance breach enforceable by HMRC.

Question 3: Working Time Accounts and Flextime

Whether travel time is credited to a flextime system, annualized hours scheme, or working time account is determined by company policy and contractual agreement rather than statutory mandate. A frequent corporate practice is capping — such as crediting travel up to the standard contractual working day — combined with time off in lieu (TOIL) or supplementary allowances for travel extending beyond standard hours.

Maintaining a strict distinction from health and safety obligations is essential: Travel time that is capped or unpaid in an internal flextime account must still be fully factored into health and safety checks for the mandatory 11-hour daily rest period and the 48-hour weekly working limit.

Commuting Time for Peripatetic Workers (Without a Fixed Base)

For mobile and peripatetic employees who have no fixed or permanent place of work — such as field service engineers, travelling care workers, or regional sales consultants — working time begins upon departing from home to travel to the first customer and ends upon returning home from the final assignment.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) established this principle in Federación de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.) v Tyco Integrated Security SL (C-266/14), which remains persuasive and influential in UK working time jurisprudence. For these workers, travel time between home and customer sites counts towards statutory working hours and rest entitlements under WTR 1998.

What Belong in a Company Travel Policy

1. Definitions: Clear distinctions between standard commuting, peripatetic travel, business travel, and journeys between multiple work locations.
2. Remuneration Structures: Specific pay rates and rules for drivers, passengers, and staff carrying out active duties while travelling.
3. Flextime & Account Caps: Transparent rules on how many travel hours may be credited towards working time accounts or taken as TOIL.
4. Time Recording Obligations: Mandatory logging of the exact start, duration, and completion of all business journeys.
5. Pre-Approval Workflows: Management sign-off procedures for travel scheduled outside regular working windows or core hours.
6. Expense Reimbursement: Distinct separation of working time pay from allowable business expense reimbursements (mileage, subsistence, fares) in line with HMRC rules.

Time Recording Best Practices

The most effective approach in automated HR systems like PlainStaff is to establish a dedicated "Travel Time" category configured to:

• Feed fully into statutory compliance audits (monitoring the 48-hour weekly maximum average under Regulation 4 and the 11-hour consecutive daily rest under Regulation 10 WTR 1998);
• Export to payroll according to the contractually agreed travel remuneration rate while verifying National Minimum Wage thresholds; and
• Credit employee working time balances strictly in accordance with internal company flextime policies.

Attempting a blanket single entry for all three dimensions invariably compromises either legal statutory compliance or payroll accuracy.

Sources and Legal Foundations

Statutory Instruments and Directives

• Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833), Regulation 2 / Directive 2003/88/EC, Art. 2 — Definition of working time and rest periods
• Working Time Regulations 1998, Regulation 4 / Directive 2003/88/EC, Art. 6 — Maximum weekly working time (48-hour average limit over 17 weeks)
• Working Time Regulations 1998, Regulation 10 / Directive 2003/88/EC, Art. 3 — Mandatory daily rest entitlement (11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period)
• National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/621) & National Minimum Wage Act 1998 — Classification of travel time as time work for minimum wage calculation
• Employment Rights Act 1996, Section 1 — Requirement for written terms governing remuneration, working patterns, and travel provisions

Key Case Law

• ECJ, Judgment of 10 September 2015 – C-266/14 (Federación de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.) v Tyco Integrated Security SL) — Travel time for peripatetic workers without a fixed workplace between home and the first/last client constitutes working time
• ECJ, Judgment of 14 May 2019 – C-55/18 (CCOO v Deutsche Bank SAE) — Employer obligations under working time frameworks to provide an objective, reliable, and accessible system recording daily hours
• UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) & Court of Appeal authorities on travel remuneration and National Minimum Wage compliance

Status: August 2026. This article provides general HR guidance and does not constitute formal legal advice for individual cases. Consult a qualified employment law solicitor or ACAS for specific contractual matters.