In the case of Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Taylors Services Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that time spent by workers travelling from their homes to the first place of work and back, using their employer’s transport (minibus), is not considered “time work” for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes, according to legal resources. The EAT reversed the Employment Tribunal’s decision, which had classified this travel time as “time work” under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015.
Taylors Services Ltd employed workers on zero-hours contracts in the poultry industry, providing transportation to farms via minibus.
HMRC (Revenue and Customs Commissioners) argued that travel time should be compensated at the NMW.
The initial tribunal agreed with HMRC, considering the travel time as “time work” under the 2015 regulations.
The EAT overturned the tribunal’s decision, stating that “time work” under Regulation 30 does not include time spent solely traveling, unless specifically deemed as such by Regulation 34.
Regulation 34, which addresses travel time, does not categorize travel between a worker’s home and their place of work as “time work”.
The EAT’s decision clarifies that employers are not obligated to pay NMW for the time workers spend traveling to and from their assignments using company transport, as long as no work is performed during that travel.
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