Supreme Court rules that obliged early arrival for work counts as paid hours

The ten minutes that a call center employee has to be at work before starting time should be seen as paid work, according to the Supreme Court's ruling. This means that an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal in The Hague with a similar implication remains in force.

This case was started by an employee who had sued his employer, Teleperformance. The call center company told its employees that they had to sit at their computers 10 minutes before the start of their shift. This way, they could be logged in on time so that they could start work at the exact starting time. According to the employee, this' start-up time' should be considered part of the working hours and paid accordingly.

The court and the appeals court ruled in favor of the employee. This ensured that Teleperformance had to pay him hundreds of euros in back pay. This compensation concerns the period from September 2016 to May 2021.

The Supreme Court's ruling followed the advice of the Advocate General, an essential advisor to the highest Dutch court. Although the advice is often adopted, it is not an obligation.

Trade union FNV, which provided legal assistance to the employee, thinks that the Supreme Court’s ruling was a “victory in our battle for a fair reward.” FNV chair Elly Heemskerk thinks the verdict could also have significant consequences for other employees and employers.

“What goes for this one employee also goes for thousands of other call center employees and maybe even for more people in the Netherlands whose boss orders them to do work-related things in their own time,” said Heemskerk. “That is why this verdict is of huge importance.”