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In line with the objective of the Working Time Directive to ensure the safety and health of workers, the Court has ruled that, ‘even if the activity actually performed varies according to the circumstances, the fact that [the workers] are obliged to be present and available at the workplace with a view to providing their professional services means that they are carrying out their duties in that instance’ (123). The Court has indeed stressed that the intensity of the work done by the employee and his or her output are not amongst the defining characteristics of ‘working time’ within the meaning of the Directive (124) and that the time concerned may qualify as working time ‘irrespective of the fact that […] the person concerned is not continuously carrying on any professional activity’ (125).
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.