The Supreme Court has already issued a decision in a case that aroused much controversy and led to many unclear interpretations. According to him, the time of commuting to work should be included as working time - provided, however, that the trip was made as part of the entrusted official duties.
Years of explanation
As reported on May 17, so far there has been no clear interpretation of the regulations regarding time spent commuting to work. The Supreme Court has been dealing with the case since 2016, in which it submitted a written request to the Court of Justice for clarification of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA). The European organization made it clear in its decision. In the event of delegating an employee to perform his duties to another place, time commuting time should be interpreted as working time.
Supreme Court explains the decision
The issued decision concerned: Norwegian affairs policeman. His daily place of work was the police station in the commune of Gaular Sogn og Fjordane. However, he was often delegated to others places of the region. So far, the time spent traveling to place of performance of duties was not included in his working time. However, the fact that the policeman traveled in a company car and that he obtained weapons from the Operational Headquarters mean that these activities bear the hallmarks of performing the entrusted work. Therefore, the trip was carried out as part of his official duties.
Without a shadow of a doubt
When voting on this case, the members of the Supreme Court had no doubts. They unanimously decided that while moving to the place of performance of his duties, the officer the police remained at the disposal of his employer. Thus, the time allocated for travel is included in working time. Because completing it was one of his duties during his service.
Norwegian recipes
From now on, the interpretation of the regulations will be easier. Norwegian law states that “in time work should be done understand the time during which the employee remains at the employer's disposal. However, there was a problem with translating this into the time spent traveling. What EFTA included in its decision of May this year is also helpful in explaining.
“Travel time to work should be understood as working time. If employee is ordered to perform his official duties outside his permanent or usual place of employment.
