Vienna, April 21, 2026 \u2014 The European Court of Justice has made a decision that could turn working time law upside down across the EU. Travel time during business trips \u2013 whether by train, plane, or car \u2013 can be considered working time under certain circumstances. What sounds like a minor detail at first glance has the potential to redefine millions of employment relationships.<\/p>\n
In this specific case, it concerned an employee who regularly had to travel to external work locations. The question was: does his working time start at the destination, or when he boards the train? The ECJ clarified: The decisive factor is whether the employee is at the employer's disposal during the journey and cannot freely dispose of his time.<\/p>\n
The Luxembourg judges defined several factors that are decisive in the assessment. Can the employee work while driving, answer emails, or must they be reachable? Is the route dictated by the employer? Does the employee have discretion over the time and method of travel?<\/p>\n
The less autonomy an employee has during travel, the more likely it is to be considered working time under the EU Working Time Directive. The court emphasized: the mere fact that someone can sleep or read a book on a train does not automatically make the time leisure time \u2013 if the fundamental obligation to be at the employer's disposal exists.<\/p>\n
For Austria, the ruling has immediate relevance. Thousands of employees - from technicians and consultants to sales staff - spend hundreds of hours on business trips every year. Previously, the practice in many industries was to only compensate for the pure working hours at the destination.<\/p>\n
The Chamber of Commerce expresses concern. A full crediting of travel time as working time would significantly increase personnel costs, according to initial reactions from Vienna. Export-oriented companies and the service sector would be particularly affected. The Chamber of Labor, on the other hand, welcomes the ruling as a long overdue clarification: Whoever is on the road for the employer is working \u2013 period.<\/p>\n
The ECJ ruling brings clarity to the principles but leaves room for interpretation in specific implementation. What applies when employees can choose their travel time freely? What about air travel with layovers? And: Does waiting time at the airport also count?<\/p>\n
Labor law experts expect a wave of individual case decisions in national courts. In Austria, the Supreme Court will likely have to make landmark rulings. Until then, uncertainty prevails\u2014for employers and employees alike.<\/p>\n
What's clear is that companies will have to revise their business travel policies. Some may try to reduce travel or switch to video conferences. Others will adjust compensation models. The era of flat-rate per diems without real time tracking may be over.<\/p>\n
The ruling exemplifies the tension between economic efficiency and employee rights. Companies fear rising costs and bureaucratic overhead. Employees see an opportunity for fair compensation for time they cannot spend at their own discretion. Who ultimately benefits depends on how legislators and courts translate the guidelines from Luxembourg into national law. YANUS will continue to monitor developments in Austria.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beer on the plane, sleep on the train \u2013 and still be on the clock? The European Court of Justice has ruled: business travel time can be considered working time. For companies and employees in Austria, this could become expensive \u2013 or work to their advantage.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[48,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oesterreich","category-politik"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-300x200.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-768x512.jpg","large":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-1024x682.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-1536x1024.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-18x12.jpg","colormag-highlighted-post":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg","colormag-featured-post-medium":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg","colormag-featured-post-small":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg","colormag-featured-image":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg","colormag-default-news":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg","colormag-featured-image-large":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"YANUS Editorial Office","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b487030a986b1d9d5c67155d60d81207922ca850833e12b088ef859f100684b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Bier im Flieger, Schlaf im Zug \u2013 und trotzdem auf der Uhr? Der Europ\u00e4ische Gerichtshof hat entschieden: Dienstreisezeit kann Arbeitszeit sein. F\u00fcr Unternehmen und Besch\u00e4ftigte in \u00d6sterreich k\u00f6nnte das teuer werden \u2013 oder zum Vorteil gereichen.","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u00d6sterreich","Politik"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":170,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit.jpg",1880,1253,false],"medium":["https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/yanus.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/eugh-urteil-wenn-das-nickerchen-im-zug-zur-arbeit-150x150.jpg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"YANUS Redaktion","author_link":"https:\/\/yanus.at\/en\/author\/kb\/"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b487030a986b1d9d5c67155d60d81207922ca850833e12b088ef859f100684b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"\u00d6sterreich<\/a> Politik<\/a>","yoast_head":"\n