Effective working time includes the time the worker is at their workplace, including all the time dedicated to carrying out their activity; the following are not included in this calculation:
- Times spent on entering and leaving work
- Times spent on personal hygiene and changing clothes
- Times spent on transport to the workplace
- Times needed to register
- Leave for personal matters or to make up for days or holidays spent working for others.
However, the cases in which it is not so clear how to consider the time are those in which the worker has to attend an event such as a convention, or a fair, etc., outside of the working day. In fact, there is already a ruling by the Supreme Court that considers that effective working time also includes “the entire period during which the employee is at the employer’s disposal”, therefore attendance at one of these events should also be considered effective working time.
Another case that is not entirely clear is that of travel, since the time spent going to and from work is not considered effective working time, but what happens in cases where it is necessary to go to a work center that is not the usual one, or in which the travel is part of the job itself.
To resolve this issue, the Law states that travel that meets the following requirements will be considered effective working time:
1.- That during the travel the worker is in the exercise of his/her duties.
2.- If he/she is at the disposal of the employer.
3.- If he/she exercises his/her duties during the travel to or from a client.