An EU ruling that time spent travelling to work can be included in workers' hours should not put local authorities into a panic, council directors have said.
The European Court of Justice ruling states that time spent by workers with no fixed base reaching assignments should be considered employed hours, subject to the EU's working time directive.
This has raised concerns over the affect it might have on shift patterns for workers such as highways teams on winter service duties.
However junior vice president of the Local Government Technical Advisory Group and member of ADEPT's transport board, John Lamb, told Transport Network: 'Many authorities already operate through partnerships. Contractors would need to absorb any rise in wage costs until current agreements run out.
'Again, many key services – such as winter maintenance – already require workers to report to nominated depots or salt barns'.
He acknowledges that infrastructure asset management systems can mean workers going straight to site – as with out-of-hours gangs keeping equipment at home but said 'this tends to be subject to local agreements, which can be ideal for employees - the moment they get into their cab, their clock starts already ticking'.
If however a local authority or contractor tried to make employees start working from home without such an agreement, problems would 'always be a possibility'.
A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills told Transport Network: 'We are carefully considering the implications.'
The Local Government Association and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service is 'seeking advice' on how the judgement could affect workers in the UK.
The Unite union, with members in the construction, local authority and road transport sectors, is keen on any potential benefits for both workers and the wider community.
'We're concerned that people working long hours, particularly with heavy machinery, pose a danger not just to themselves but to their colleagues and the general public', a spokesperson said.
The ruling concluded a Spanish case where a security systems installer closed its regional offices, obliging field employees to travel varying distances to and from first and last appointments.
The court ruled that: 'The fact that the workers begin and finish journeys at their homes stems directly from the decision of their employer'.
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