In 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union considered
that in the absence of a fixed place of work, the daily commuting
time between home and the employee's first and last place of
work for the day must be considered as working time. The decision
raised many an eyebrow to the extent that French law provides for
exactly the opposite rule.
However, the French Supreme Court was recently faced with a
similar case. In its decision it recalled that the CJEU clarified
that the method of remuneration of workers in such a situation was
not a matter of the directive but of the relevant provisions of
national law. The Supreme Court therefore applied the terms of the
French Labor Code: the commuting time to travel to the place of
performance of the employment contract is not actual working time
and does not have to be remunerated as such. It can give rise only
to a compensation, in financial form or in rest, if it exceeds the
normal travel time.
