Travel time?

mpd1

I work (on a zero-hours contract on minimum wage) for a catering firm as a waiter for weddings and events.

I walk from my house to their premises, they then drive us to the venue (there are many venues but they are often around half an hour away). We work for a few hours, and then they drive us back to their premises.

My employer insists that we are only to claim for the hours spent at the venue, and not the travel time from their premises to the venue and back.

Is there any legal requirement for them to pay me for this time?


Thanks!

BonandDom

I would say not, but don't know for sure.

Lucky to get free transport to work :-)

ohreally

BonandDom wrote: »

Lucky to get free transport to work

He doesn't...

mpd1 wrote: »

I walk from my house to their premises

stevemLS

Does your contract specify a place of work/base?

SeduLOUs

It depends on your hourly rate.

They can choose not to pay you for the travelling time ONLY if your pay divided by the total number of hours (including travelling from their premises to the alternative site of work) is still above minimum wage.

If you are already on or close to minimum wage, then legally they have to pay you for the travelling time, and the gov.uk url posted by blondebubbles states this quite clearly.

stevemLS

SeduLOUs wrote: »

It depends on your hourly rate.

They can choose not to pay you for the travelling time ONLY if your pay divided by the total number of hours (including travelling from their premises to the alternative site of work) is still above minimum wage.

If you are already on or close to minimum wage, then legally they have to pay you for the travelling time, and the gov.uk url posted by blondebubbles states this quite clearly.

Is it as clear as that?

That is why I asked what the contract had to say about the base?

If the OP was able to travel independently to the assignment would that be permitted?

If so, then would travel between employer base and assignment be regarded as travel for work.

I don't know the answer, just suggesting it is not necessarily as straightforward as it might at first appear.

Philis_Burrell

It depends on your contract. What does it say actually. If there is none, then, I think it is just fair to discuss this with your employer.

yllop1101

I used to work for a catering agency and we used to get paid half for our travel time I think. So if it took 3 hours we would get paid for 1.5. The driver would also get expenses.
I don't think it's fair to not be paid for travelling to a job that's much further away.
Could your option be, if they won't pay extra, to just request or accept local shifts?

SeduLOUs

stevemLS wrote: »

Is it as clear as that?

That is why I asked what the contract had to say about the base?

If the OP was able to travel independently to the assignment would that be permitted?

If so, then would travel between employer base and assignment be regarded as travel for work.

I don't know the answer, just suggesting it is not necessarily as straightforward as it might at first appear.

I think it's pretty clear that travelling from the office premises to a job is work related travel. The simple fact that the employer is providing transport for this leg of the journey further demonstrates that it is work related travel.

His contract 'might' say he can be required to work anywhere in the country, but I suspect such a term wouldn't stand up due to breaching minimum wage laws if the employer is asking him to travel to the business premises for X time, and not directly to the assignment.

tomtontom

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I think it's pretty clear that travelling from the office premises to a job is work related travel. The simple fact that the employer is providing transport for this leg of the journey further demonstrates that it is work related travel.

His contract 'might' say he can be required to work anywhere in the country, but I suspect such a term wouldn't stand up due to breaching minimum wage laws if the employer is asking him to travel to the business premises for X time, and not directly to the assignment.

Then the answer would be to stop providing transport, let the worker make their own way to the venue?

We don't have nearly enough information to advise the OP, the answer is far from clear.