No, the ordinary journey from home to work is in principle not working time. But your sector collective agreement may provide otherwise, and for workers without a fixed workplace that journey can be working time. In addition, many journeys have their own allowance, such as the mobility allowance in construction or the kilometre allowance for an employee's own car.
For employers with staff on the road, this is not a theoretical question. A technician driving from home to the first customer, a construction worker picking up colleagues, a cleaner cycling between clients: every trip can affect working time, pay or an expense allowance. If you only reconstruct this data at the end of the month, you pay too much, too little or too late.
In this article you will read when travel time counts as working time, what the Tyco ruling of the European Court does and does not say, how the mobility allowance in construction (JC 124) works, which kilometre and bicycle allowances apply in 2026 and 2027, what the mobility budget means from 2027 and which data your payroll needs per day.
Is the journey from home to work working time?
Working time is the time during which the employee is at the employer's disposal. The ordinary home to work commute does in principle not fall under it: the employee chooses where to live and how to get to a fixed workplace.
Two nuances matter. First, a sector collective agreement (the agreement of your joint committee) may provide that certain journeys count as working time or are paid separately. Second, the situation differs for workers without a fixed workplace, such as technicians driving from customer to customer. That is what the Tyco ruling is about.
A frequent grey area is the trip from the assembly point (the depot or workshop where the crew meets) to the site. We found no clear general rule on this in official or legal sources. Check your sector collective agreement before you treat that trip as working time or as commuting, and record your choice in writing.
What does the Tyco ruling mean for technicians without a fixed workplace?
On 10 September 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in the Tyco case (C-266/14) on technicians who had no fixed or habitual workplace. For them, the journey between home and the first customer, and between the last customer and home, is working time within the meaning of the European Working Time Directive 2003/88.
According to the law firm Claeys & Engels, the ruling is in line with the approach of some Belgian courts: the journey from home to a customer can in certain cases be working time.
Please note: Tyco is about working time, meaning maximum working hours and rest periods. The ruling is not about pay for that driving time. How you pay for that time depends on your sector collective agreement, the employment contract and the arrangements in your company. Ask your social secretariat for advice on your situation.
In practice this means: for mobile workers, record the start time of the first trip and the end time of the last trip of the day. This lets you check rest periods and maximum working hours, even when pay for those trips is arranged separately.
How does the mobility allowance in construction (JC 124) work?
In construction, the mobility allowance compensates the time on the road between home and the workplace, meaning the workshop, the site or the head office. According to the union brochures for JC 124, these rules apply:
- The employee is entitled from 10 km per day, as driver or as passenger.
- A driver who transports colleagues is entitled from the first kilometre.
- Separate transport costs also exist, likewise from the first kilometre. This is a different allowance from the mobility allowance.
- The basis is the number of kilometres actually driven per day. In case of dispute, Google Maps serves as the reference.
- Workers who come by bicycle receive a bicycle allowance instead of the mobility allowance: according to the ACCG brochure 0.32 euro per km from 1 October 2026.
| Situation in JC 124 | Amount per km (scale B, from 1/2/2024) | What you need to record |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger or own transport | 0.0619 euro | Km per day and whether passenger or own transport |
| Driver travelling alone | 0.10 euro | Km per day and that the driver travelled alone |
| Driver with passengers | 0.1579 euro for the whole route | Km per day and which colleagues came along |
An example: a driver who covers 30 km and takes two colleagues along comes to 30 x 0.1579 = 4.74 euro for that day according to the table. Please note: these amounts come from a 2024 table. Whether they still apply unchanged in 2026 is best checked with Constructiv or in the applicable sector collective agreement.
Which kilometre allowance applies to an employee's own car in 2026 and 2027?
If an employee uses his own car for business trips, you can pay a flat-rate kilometre allowance. There are two systems: an amount fixed for a full year, or an amount that changes every quarter.
| System | Period | Amount per km |
|---|---|---|
| Annual system | 1/7/2026 to 30/6/2027 | 0.4761 euro |
| Annual system, previous period | until 30/6/2026 | 0.4449 euro |
| Quarterly system, third quarter 2026 | 1/7 to 30/9/2026 | 0.4440 euro |
| Quarterly system, fourth quarter 2026 | 1/10 to 31/12/2026 | 0.4452 euro |
The annual amount comes from circular 767 of 8 June 2026, the amount for the fourth quarter from circular 771 (Belgian Official Gazette of 29 September 2026). If you choose the annual system, you can only switch to the quarterly system on 1 July 2027. So make that choice deliberately and record it.
For the NSSO, the kilometre flat rate only applies if the car is not owned by the employer and not financed by the employer. The flat rate is all-in: it covers all costs of the car, so you do not pay a separate allowance for fuel or maintenance on top.
What is changing for the bicycle allowance and the mobility budget?
Bicycle allowance in 2026
According to the NSSO instructions, since 1 January 2026 a bicycle allowance of up to 0.37 euro per km is exempt, with a maximum of 3,700 euro per year for commuting. For business trips the bicycle must belong to the employee. Apart from that exemption, the cross-industry collective agreement or your sector collective agreement may make a minimum bicycle allowance mandatory; check the amount for your joint committee.
Mobility budget from 2027
The obligation to offer a mobility budget has been postponed. It applies from 1 January 2027 for employers with at least 50 employees and from 1 January 2028 for smaller employers. In 2026 the budget ranges from 3,233 to 17,244 euro per year. For payroll this is an extra allowance flow you need to follow up per employee. Discuss in good time with your social secretariat which employees are eligible.
Which data does payroll need per day?
No single rule lists exactly what you must keep, but the rules above show which data payroll processing needs per day. If one item is missing, someone has to call, calculate or estimate afterwards.
| Data point | Why payroll needs it | Who records it |
|---|---|---|
| Kilometres driven per day | Basis for the mobility allowance, transport costs and kilometre allowance | The employee, checked by the foreman or planner |
| Driver or passenger | Determines the amount per km in JC 124 | The employee, when checking in on site |
| Driven alone or with passengers, and who came along | A driver with colleagues receives a higher amount from the first km | The driver personally |
| Means of transport: car, bicycle or public transport | In construction the bicycle allowance replaces the mobility allowance | The employee, at every change |
| Pick-up point or assembly point | Determines the route; its treatment follows your sector agreement | The planner or the foreman |
| Ownership and financing of the car | The km flat rate does not apply to a car owned or financed by the employer | HR, in the personnel file |
| Start and end time of the first and last trip | Needed to check the working time of mobile workers (Tyco) | The employee, via check-in and check-out |
Five steps to correct mobility registration
- Read the provisions on travel and mobility in the collective agreement of your joint committee, including the trip from assembly point to site.
- Record for each employee which means of transport he uses and whether the car belongs to or is financed by the employer.
- Choose the annual or the quarterly system for the kilometre allowance and record that choice.
- Have employees record kilometres, role (driver or passenger) and site or customer per day, on the day itself.
- Have the manager approve deviations every week, so payroll starts with validated figures.
Waiting until the end of the month costs money: read why payroll becomes more expensive when deviations are confirmed too late and what you can do about it.
Will the general time registration of 2027 change anything about travel time?
General registration of working time is planned from 1 January 2027, with a transition until 1 April 2027. There is only a preliminary draft; no law has been adopted yet. None of the sources we consulted says how travel time will be treated in it. So that is still unknown.
If you already record start and end times and journeys per day, you are in a stronger position in any case. Read the current state of play in our article on mandatory time registration in 2027, with a checklist for your system. For construction works from 500,000 euro excluding VAT, Check In and Out at Work (CIaO) also applies from 1 April 2027, see our page on the CIaO obligation for the details.
How MyVIRO helps
MyVIRO is an employee self-service app (ESS app) for iOS and Android. Your employees record their hours per site or assignment and their mobility and kilometres every day, directly on their smartphone. When checking in and out, the location is only recorded at that moment, never outside working hours.
In the back office you immediately see, before payroll preparation, which check-ins are missing, which locations deviate and which approvals are still open. Validated data flows to your HR, ERP or payroll system, or to VIRO for pre-payroll. MyVIRO does not calculate wages itself: that remains the task of your social secretariat or payroll package.
- See how MyVIRO works, from check-in to full ESS
- Discover VIRO for pre-payroll to get validated data ready
- Read how planning for construction connects to registration per site
Request a demo and see how your crews record kilometres and journeys per day.
Read also
- Monthly payroll preparation checklist: what to send your social secretariat
- Employees' own phone and GPS for time registration: what the GDPR allows
- Mandatory time registration from 2027? What is certain, what is not, and what you can do now
Frequently asked questions about travel time and mobility
In principle not. The ordinary journey from home to a fixed workplace is not working time, unless your sector collective agreement provides otherwise.
For workers without a fixed or habitual workplace it is, according to the Tyco ruling of 10 September 2015. That ruling is about working time and rest periods, not about pay for that time.
There is no clear general rule on this. Check the collective agreement of your joint committee and ask your social secretariat for advice.
In JC 124 from 10 km per day, as driver or as passenger. A driver who transports colleagues is entitled from the first kilometre.
In the annual system 0.4761 euro per km from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. In the quarterly system 0.4452 euro per km from 1 October to 31 December 2026.
From 1 January 2027 if you have at least 50 employees, and from 1 January 2028 if you are a smaller employer.
That is not yet known. There is only a preliminary draft, and no source says how travel time will be treated.
Sources
- CMS, Mobile worker's commuting constitutes working time, the European Court rules (Tyco, C-266/14): cms.law
- Claeys & Engels, commentary on the Tyco ruling (9 October 2015): claeysengels.be
- ACCG, pocket brochure on pay and working conditions for construction workers 2025-2026 (in Dutch): accg.be
- ACLVB, JC 124 transport costs and mobility allowance, 2024 (in Dutch): aclvb.be
- NSSO, DmfA instructions on reimbursement of expenses, 2026/3 (in Dutch): socialsecurity.be
- OECCBB, Mandatory mobility budget postponed to 2027 (in Dutch): oeccbb.be
Author: Jean-Philippe Delberghe at MyVIRO. Published on 23 October 2026. Last updated on 23 October 2026.
This article is an informative explanation and not legal advice. Consult your social secretariat for your specific situation.