Breaking News English

The European Union (EU) said that workers with no fixed office should be paid for travelling to and from their first and last clients each day. This could have a big effect on staffing costs across Europe. The journeys of people who work from home and travel to and from their customers’ premises will now be paid work. This means higher salaries for care workers, sales staff, plumbers, and other company employees who work from home. The EU said this was to protect the health and safety of workers. It wanted to make sure workers did not work more than 48 hours per week.

Thousands of companies across Europe will have to rearrange the working schedules of employees so that that their first and last appointments are near their homes. A British employment lawyer told the BBC that: "Unless [bosses] adjust working hours or ask employees to opt out of the 48-hour working week, employees could quickly exceed the number of hours they are legally allowed to work." This will be illegal and companies could face legal action from workers. The new rule does not affect people who commute to their normal, fixed place of work every day.