d1e1105-1-1__para__2
As concerns the definition of working time, the Court has given specific guidance in its case-law regarding qualification of periods during which workers must remain available to resume their work in case of need, such as ‘on-call’ and ‘stand-by’ (15). The Court held that the time spent ‘on-call’ is to be regarded in its entirety as ‘working time’ within the meaning of the Directive if the worker is required to be present at the workplace separate from his or her residence (16). The entire period of ‘stand-by’, where a worker must be reachable at all times but is not required to remain at a place determined by the employer, qualifies as ‘working time’, when the constraints imposed by the employer during the ‘stand-by’ have an objective and very significant impact on the worker’s possibility to freely manage the time during which the worker’s services are not required and thus on the possibility to pursue his or her personal and social interests during that time (17). By contrast, where these constraints do not have such an effect on a worker’s ability to pursue his or her own interests, only the time linked to the actual provision of services must be regarded as ‘working time’ (18).
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.