Commuting time will also be counted as working hours!

The Dhaka Times Desk Dhaka's employees would be really happy if such a case of counting commuting time as working hours would happen in Bangladesh.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ), the highest court in Europe, ruled that the time spent commuting from home to work should also be counted as working hours.

The ECJ ruled that workers who do not have a fixed office must be paid wages for the time spent commuting to and from work. which is not given to them at present.

The ECJ issued this ruling based on a legal case related to the Spanish security company Tyco.

এতে বলা হয়েছে, ‘কর্মীদের তাদের বাড়ি হতে কর্মস্থলে যেতে ও আসতে যে অতিরিক্ত সময় ব্যয় হয় তারজন্য মূলত তাদের নিয়োগকর্তাদের আঞ্চলিক অফিস বিলুপ্তির সিদ্ধান্তই দায়ী। এর পেছনে কর্মীদের ব্যক্তিগত কোনো সিদ্ধান্ত কিংবা আকাঙ্খা দায়ী নয়।’

As a result of this order, companies will now have to pay electricians, gas fitters, care workers and sales representatives additional wages for the time they spend commuting to and from their workplaces.

The European Court of Justice said it issued the order to ensure the "good health and safety" of workers in accordance with the European Union's Working Time Directive.

It should be noted that if there was such a law in Bangladesh, the employees of the capital city of Dhaka, which is congested with traffic, would be really happy. Because of the traffic jam, the workers have to sit for hours. At least 4/5 hours of back-and-forth time has to be spent in jam while doing eight-hour duty!