Whether time spent travelling for work counts as paid working hours has long been a sort-of grey area in Germany's labour rules.
For many employees, it depends on where they work, how often they travel and how much control their employer has over their day.
Some of that uncertainty was cleared up recently when the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that travel time must count as working time for employees without a fixed workplace – under certain circumstances.
‘Arbeitszeit’ vs ‘Arbeitsweg’
To understand when travel for work needs to be paid in Germany, you first need to understand the different between 'working time' and a 'work commute' according to the country's labour law.
Under German law, 'working time' (Arbeitszeit) means time during which an employee must make their labour available for their employer. Put simply, when your employer expects you to be available for work tasks, that's working time.
By contrast, the 'work commute' (Arbeitsweg), or the normal journey between home and a fixed workplace, is generally considered part of private life and is not paid.
So employees who commute regularly to the same office, shop or factory each day, aren't paid for their travel to work, even if its long or inconvenient.
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A notable exception
There is an important exception to the general rules for those jobs that cannot be done without travel. For example for field sales staff, service technicians, construction workers or carers who move between clients.
If your journey from home to your first job site, and back from the last one, is an integral part of what you’re employed to do, it may be counted as working time.
In legal speak this kind of travel forms part of the job’s “economic objective”, and therefore may amount to paid time.
This was effectively confirmed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a case decided late last year. The court ruled that travel time must count as working time in situations where employees don’t have a fixed workplace and are sent to different locations.
The court emphasised that this applies where workers follow a set timetable and can’t freely use their time while travelling.
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The case arose from a dispute in Spain involving environmental workers who had to meet at a fixed location each morning before travelling together in company vehicles to various sites and being driven back in the evening. Their employer argued that only the outbound journey should be paid, treating the return trip as private time.
The ECJ rejected this, finding that neither journey was private because the workers were required to follow their employer’s instructions and had no real control over how their time was used while travelling.
What does this mean for employees in Germany?
Regardless of the ruling, your normal commute to a fixed workplace in Germany is still unpaid and making a small detour on the way to work won’t automatically turn the entire journey into working time
Similarly, checking emails on the train does not, by itself, transform your commute into paid work. German courts continue to draw a clear line here: only the work‑related part of a journey counts.
But if your employer decides when and where you have to travel, provides the vehicle and expects you to be available while you’re on the road, that travel time is now very likely to count as working time under EU law.
If the travel is controlled by your employer and you can’t use the time freely, it shouldn’t matter whether you’re driving yourself or sitting in the passenger seat, for example.
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The time also has to be properly recorded, included when checking whether you exceed your daily or weekly working‑time limits, and taken into account when calculating your legally required breaks.
In addition, where EU working‑time law applies, contract clauses that exclude this kind of employer‑controlled travel time from working hours are invalid. That’s because EU law takes precedence over national contract provisions in this area.
But German law does still allow for some flexibility over how travel time is paid – provided minimum‑wage rules are respected and the arrangements are clearly and transparently set out.
What about changing into work clothes?
If your employer requires you to wear specific protective or specialist clothing – and insists that you change on site – the time spent changing, as well as the walk from the changing room to your workstation, counts as working time.
In legal terms, the key factor here is whether changing clothes is done solely in the employer’s interest.
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Please note: The information provided here is designed to help but doesn’t equate to professional legal advice. If you’re in doubt about your own situation, you'd be advised to speak to your HR department, workers’ council representative or a labour law specialist.
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