EU Court Ruling Means Millions of German Workers Are Owed Back Pay for Travel Time
Published on 07/29/2026 at 22:11 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A landmark decision from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is set to reshape how employers calculate working hours for staff who drive to changing job sites. The ruling, case number C-110/24, declares that time spent traveling in a company vehicle to different work locations counts as paid work — provided the employer controls the key parameters.
The judgment targets a specific scenario: when a boss dictates the meeting point, departure time, vehicle and destination. In those circumstances, employees no longer have free disposal of their time, even while behind the wheel. The ruling does not apply to the standard commute to a fixed office or depot.
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Who stands to gain
The construction and building-cleaning sectors are the most affected, with roughly 1.8 million workers directly impacted. An additional 450,000 care workers who visit patients in their homes and around 130,000 landscape gardeners also fall under the new interpretation.
The financial stakes are high. Consider a worker who spends 80 minutes per day driving unpaid between jobs. If those hours push their average pay below the statutory minimum wage — which has stood at €13.90 per hour since January 2026 — they could be owed up to €400 per month in back pay.
Not every minute must be paid at full rate
The ECJ’s ruling does not automatically entitle employees to full wages for every second of travel. Instead, it requires that the legal minimum wage be met on average across all working hours. That distinction is crucial: employers can still structure pay in ways that compensate travel time at a lower rate, as long as the overall average does not dip below the threshold.
But the implications go beyond pay. Travel time must now be counted toward statutory maximum working hours and mandatory rest periods. That means employers who ignore the ruling risk violating both wage laws and health-and-safety regulations governing shift lengths.
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What workers should do now
Employees who believe they are owed money should start keeping a detailed daily log of their travel times. The next step is to check employment or collective-bargaining agreements for any exclusion periods — deadlines after which claims expire. Missing those cutoffs could wipe out any entitlement.
The ECJ’s decision sends a clear message that courts are taking working-time rules seriously. For Germany’s mobile workforce — tradespeople, nurses, gardeners and cleaners — the legal landscape has shifted fundamentally. Employers who fail to adapt their scheduling and payroll systems face not only back-pay claims but also potential penalties for breaching maximum-hour limits.
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