The time spent commuting between home and work often raises questions for cross-border employees: is it considered working time and should it be paid? Discover the applicable rules according to the legislation of the countries of the Greater Region.
Note: commuting time between home and work is distinct from business travel, which concerns travel carried out at the employer’s instruction and in the interest of the company (client visits, work on a construction site, assignment to another establishment, etc.). In this context, the employee is no longer simply traveling to their usual workplace, but to carry out a task or to go to a workplace designated by the employer.
Conversely, the home-to-work commute refers to the employee’s daily travel between their home and their usual place of work.
In France
The time spent traveling from home to the workplace is not considered actual working time. Consequently, the employer, in principle, has no obligation to provide salary compensation for these commutes, and this time does not entitle the employee to overtime pay.
In Luxembourg
When the employee travels directly from their home to the workplace (even if this location varies within Luxembourg or abroad, provided that the contract allows for this possibility or includes a mobility clause), this commuting time is not considered working time.
In Germany
When the employee has a fixed workplace, the daily round-trip commute between home and this location is not considered working time and therefore does not entitle the employee to payment.
In Belgium
In Belgium, the time spent traveling between home and the workplace is not recognized as working time and is explicitly excluded from this concept.
