17 § Travel expenses and daily allowance

1.       The corresponding regulations of the collective agreement for government officials shall be observed as applicable with regard to compensation for travel expenses and the payment of daily allowances.

2.       When an employee is required by the employer to travel during his or her free time in accordance with the working hours scheme, the time spent travelling will be compensated for with basic salary not exceeding eight hours for a working day and 16 hours for a day off. Travel time shall be calculated in full 30-minute periods. Travel time is not considered working hours. This benefit can also be implemented by concluding a local agreement on separate, fixed monthly compensation.

If the employer pays for the employee’s sleeping accommodation on board a means of transport, no compensation for travel time payment shall be made for between 9 pm and 7 am.

In calculation of the fulfilment of regular working hours as a basis for weekly overtime, the hours spent travelling shall also be taken into account, up to the maximum daily regular working hours in accordance with the working hours scheme for travel days on which regular working hours are not otherwise fulfilled. However, these hours are not considered actual working hours.

Leisure-time travel referred to directly above will not be compensated for if

a. compensation for leisure-time travel has been taken into consideration in the terms and conditions of employment and this has been stated in the conclusion of a contract of employment with the employee or later; such compensation can constitute, for example, a salary higher than the salary otherwise called for by the competence classification of the task, or

b. the employee is able to independently decide on the scheduling of his or her working hours and his or her duties do not determine the times of starting or ending travel.

In the event of lack of clarity or disagreement regarding the application or interpretation of paragraphs a) and b) in the workplace, these shall be handled in accordance with the regulations governing negotiation procedures in the collective agreement and shop steward agreement between the parties. The employer then needs to explain the criteria that were used for defining leisure travel.

The regulation concerning compensation for leisure-time travel is not applicable to international travel or participation in training sessions.

3.       When an employee must arrive to perform emergency work or overtime work, or leave from emergency work or overtime work during a time of day with no regular means of transport, or if he or she is called to emergency work so urgently that it would be impossible to get to the workplace in time by public transport, the employee shall receive a travel allowance or, if he or she has used his or her own vehicle, compensation for the use of one’s own vehicle as specified in paragraph 1.