Stand-By Period: Qualification As Working Or Rest Time?

By two decisions in cases (i) C-344/19 D.J. v Radiotelevizija Slovenija and (ii) C-580/19 RJ v Stadt Offenbach am Main of 9 March 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that on-call time may only qualify as ‘working time' if there are significant constraints on how the workers can use their free time during these stand-by periods.

• The first case concerned a technician who was responsible for ensuring, for several consecutive days, the operation of television transmission centres situated in a hardly accessible place in the mountains of Slovenia. During this stand-by period, the worker was not obliged to remain in the centre, but he had to be contactable by telephone and able to return to the centre within one hour, if necessary. However, given the location of the centre the worker was, in fact, obliged to remain at the place of work, without any possible leisure.