EAT rules that employers are not obligated to pay National Minimum Wage for travel time to work

In the case of Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Taylors Services Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that time spent by workers travelling from their homes to the first place of work and back, using their employer’s transport (minibus), is not considered “time work” for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes, according to legal resources. The EAT reversed the Employment Tribunal’s decision, which had classified this travel time as “time work” under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015.

Taylors Services Ltd employed workers on zero-hours contracts in the poultry industry, providing transportation to farms via minibus.

HMRC (Revenue and Customs Commissioners) argued that travel time should be compensated at the NMW.

The initial tribunal agreed with HMRC, considering the travel time as “time work” under the 2015 regulations.

The EAT overturned the tribunal’s decision, stating that “time work” under Regulation 30 does not include time spent solely traveling, unless specifically deemed as such by Regulation 34.

Regulation 34, which addresses travel time, does not categorize travel between a worker’s home and their place of work as “time work”.

The EAT’s decision clarifies that employers are not obligated to pay NMW for the time workers spend traveling to and from their assignments using company transport, as long as no work is performed during that travel.

 

Read more

Latest News

Read More

Wellbeing pays: the ROI HR can’t ignore

9 October 2025

Skills

7 October 2025

How to build a skills-based strategy

A key challenge for organisations looking at their skills strategy is getting their job data under control. Discover how creating a single source of truth...

Artificial Intelligence, Globalisation

7 October 2025

Talent strategies for business expansion and growth

Global Expansion 2025: Powerful Talent Management Strategies for a Diverse and AI-Driven Workforce....

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – Human ResourcesSalary: £39,432 to £45,097 per annum (pro-rata) inclusive This provides summary information and comment on the

Harper Adams University – Human ResourcesSalary: £46,049 to £50,253 per annum. Grade 10 This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where

University of Cambridge – Department of Clinical NeurosciencesSalary: £27,319 to £31,236 This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal

Royal Conservatoire of ScotlandSalary: £52,074 to £58,611 This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate court cases

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE