Is Travel for Work "Working"?

I work in the medical industry with a large health provider. I work at one centre. In order to cut costs and become a flexible work place, my employer is now requiring us to fill in the roster at other centres within Sydney. We attend our normal centre in the morning then travel to the centre where required. This is during our working hours and they have a company Opal card for this purpose. If driving the kms are reimbursed. We leave the fill-in centre a little earlier so that we can be back at our primary centre by our finish time.

If delayed by either the employer or by the transport, should I be paid extra/overtime?

Would you consider the travel time "working" on the way back to the primary centre?

Any references and guidance would be helpful.

Comments

  • +4

    Are you paid the bare minimum? If yes, then the boss delaying you will count towards overtime. Public transport or traffic delays, no.

    If you're not paid bare minimum, it all depends on how much you want to keep your job.

    Would you consider the travel time "working" on the way back to the primary centre?

    If your job requires to sign out from the primary centre, yes. If it is not a requirement. No.

  • what does your contract says about overtime ?

    • +9

      It says the prevailing jurisdiction on decisions regarding workplace entitlements, hours of work and renumeration is Australia's foremost bargains website.

      • -1

        Labour is just another commodity.

  • Whether your company agrees that it should entitle you to overtime may be between you and them, but it seems like the ATO would consider that claimable work-related travel.

    https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/income-and-deductions/ded…

    You can claim the cost of travelling:
    -from your normal workplace to an alternative workplace that is not a regular workplace (for example, a client's premises) while still on duty, and back to your normal workplace or directly home

  • +3

    In order to cut costs and become a flexible work place

    That's code for lowering pay and conditions.

    Large businesses are set up to to screw workers while making the largest amount of money possible meaning sky high prices for consumers - unlike the Government sector.

    Some neoliberal fundamentalist is probably going to jump in here and insist that the opposite is true because they refuse to look at reality which is the opposite of the stupid economic theory.

    • +1

      Large businesses are set up to to screw workers while making the largest amount of money possible

      True. If they're not the most cost efficient, their competitor will be.

      …meaning sky high prices for consumers

      False. Only in a monopoly can a company just raise prices. Like the above scenario, if someone can offer the equivalent product for less…

      unlike the Government sector.

      …seriously? The entity that doesn't have to really answer to stake holders and can engineer their own market is going to be cost efficient and "priced competitively?". Really now?

      • The point about the government is kind of true. Unlike businesses, the government has zero pressure to be cost efficient or price competitive - its effectively unlimited revenue raising capacity means it can infinitely charge below cost for anything and everything.

        In the context of private organisations, it's not unlike organised crone who extort businesses while using a fraction of those funds to bribe street urchins and deadbeats to do the bulk of its heavy lifting.

    • The government sector is extremely inefficient, and we all pay for that inefficiency in our taxes. Even if they were to make a product at a loss, the difference comes straight from the taxpayer. The only ones to benefit from this are people on benefits or paying no/low tax.

      As above, the private sector is always more efficient as they can't lose money hand over fist.

  • I am in this exact situation where I work roughly half a day at one office and half a day at another. I am provided a vehicle for travel and am clocked on for travel time (~30 mins).

  • If delayed by either the employer or by the transport, should I be paid extra/overtime?

    It 'depends', while the answer is YES, it will depend on how late you are. If you're delayed once a week by 5 or 10 mins late back, then you're pretty petty to be asking for overtime.

    But if you're getting back 30 mins past your shift each day, then yes you should be claiming it.

    Its swings and roundabouts, 5 mins here, is taken back later as I'm sure some days you get back early with the PT gods align.

  • Do you have to return to the primary centre at the end of a shift? If you can head straight home instead then maybe some days you win, some days you don't, but hopefully all balances out in the end

  • Sounds terribly exhausting.

  • Well, the ATO says

    You can claim the cost of travelling…. if you had shifting places of employment – you regularly work at more than one site each day before returning home, or
    from your home to an alternative workplace that is not a regular workplace for work purposes, and then to your normal workplace or directly home.

    If the ATO says travel is a work expense, then any time spent travelling between workplaces must then be work.

  • In my view you are lucky your boss lets you leave early in order to get back to the other centre.

    If you were my staff member and you raised it as an issue I would make sure you worked your full hours instead.

    • Btw - I am certain your contract states you may be required to work at other sites when directed.

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