Workers are entitled to be paid at least National Minimum Wage (NMW) for time spent working.

Time spent travelling can amount to working time and so attract NMW, for example, when travelling from the office to a meeting somewhere.

The recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case of Taylors Service Ltd (dissolved) and another v The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs [2024] considered this point.

The facts

Zero hour workers were collected from their home address by their employer’s minibus and were taken to farms around the country to provide poultry services.

HMRC issued a Notice of Underpayment, concluding that the time spent travelling to and from their home addresses to the various farms should be paid at NMW.

The appeal

The employer successfully appealed - time spent travelling between the worker's home and place of work is not working time unless there is ‘work’ being done while travelling - it did not matter that the worker was obliged to travel using their employer's minibus.

Further information

This can be a complex area of law and a lot will depend on the facts of each case so we encourage you to contact the Helpline with your questions.

Current National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates can be found at National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)