Firefighters: on-call time counts fully as working time

On Wednesday, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a ruling concerning European firefighters (both professional and voluntary), It states that on-call duty at home now counts in full as working time. 37 Belgian volunteer firefighters in dispute with their fire service have taken their case to the European level; they were demanding that the City of Nivelles pay them for their on-call time.  ‘Until now, the Court’s position had been that on-call duty at the workplace, including standby duty, should be regarded as working time. Outside the workplace, however, it was not considered working time. Today’s ruling clarifies that on-call duty at home, if a worker is on call for their employer and must report to their place of work within eight minutes, this must be regarded as working time. “This is truly revolutionary. It could be applied to other firefighters as well as to other professions,” says Maître Pierre Joassart (lawyer for the 37 firefighters) to l’avenir.net European Union member states remain free to set whatever hourly rate they wish for on-call duty pay.