This is The decision of justice which could create case law in other cases. The Court of Cassation ruled in favor of the itinerant worker. in recognizing your professional travel as effective working time! He spent several hours a day driving his company car to and from his clients. Article L312-4 of the Criminal Code was still in effect. taking into account that ” The working time of a business trip to the place of performance of the employment contract is not effective working time “. But why this sudden reversal the highest French legal authority? Here is this one always refused such requests until nowbased on this article.

In the car, but still at work

Previously, time spent in one’s car, even a professional one, could not be considered effective work. Because this is in theory a moment where, although spent during his working hours. in employee can freely attend to his personal affairs. Call your relatives, listen to music or just enjoy the trip. But in this employee’s case, the time spent driving was actual committed to the implementation of his professional activities. His employer asked him for this stay in touch at any timeand with continue to contact customers. It was about real work, not personal pursuits. So he asked revaluation of these hours as overtime, and demanded monetary compensation. What his employer was against.

A textbook case that could set a precedent

After some file instructionsthe court of cassation in its decision dated November 23, 2022 noted that ” This time was to be included in his actual working time and paid for as such. “. This is already a textbook case. On this issue, the Court has never agreed with the various decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The employer was ordered to pay 140,000 euros compensation for illegal dismissal. As always in the Law, we do not rely only on statutory texts. But of course previous court decisions end the conflict situation. Thus, this solution can be used for new similar cases. AND rationally review the time of business trips as actual working time.