‘Standby Time' May Be ‘Working Time' In Certain Cases

On 9 March 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the "CJEU") delivered two preliminary rulings in RJ v Stadt Offenbach am Main (C-580/19) and DJ v Radiotelevizija Solvenija (C-344/19) on the interpretation of Article 2 of Directive 2003/88 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (the "Working Time Directive"). The CJEU ruled that if the employer imposes significant restrictions on the use of the employee's free time when on-call, significantly preventing the employee from planning his/her free time, then the 'standby time' can be considered to be 'working time' in its entirety.
It should be noted at the outset that Article 2 of the Working Time Directive defines 'working time' as "any period during which the worker is working, at the employer's disposal and carrying out his activity or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice" and 'rest period' as "any period which is not working time."