Call center must pay employees for mandatory prep time

The ten minutes a call center employee had to be present before his working hours should be seen as paid working time. This is the advice of the Advocate General to the Supreme Court. As far as he is concerned, an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal in The Hague with a similar effect can, therefore, be upheld.

The employee in question had sued his employer Teleperformance because the call center company required its employees to be at their computers ten minutes before the start of their shift. In this way, they could be logged in in time to receive their first call right away. In the employee's opinion, this "start-up time" should be regarded as working time and should therefore be paid.

The judge and the Court of Appeal had previously ruled in favor of the employee. As a result, Teleperformance had to pay him hundreds of euros in back pay. This compensation covered the period from September 2016 to May 2021. The company did not agree with this and appealed cassation.

The Supreme Court is still discussing a ruling in this case and will issue a reserved judgment on November 8. The Advocate General is an important advisor to the Dutch Supreme Court. His opinions are often accepted, but not necessarily.