🔹 Introduction

 Accurate accounting of working time is crucial not only for the payment of salaries but also for complying with daily and weekly norms. Correctly determining what counts as working time and what does not is particularly significant in the case of:
– breaks at work,
– employee on-call duty,
– business trips and travel.
 
Below you will find a detailed discussion of each of these issues.
 

🔸 1. Breaks at Work

✅ a) 15-Minute Break (Article 134 Labor Code)

• An employee working at least 6 hours a day is entitled to a 15-minute break,
• It is included in working time,
• Commonly referred to as the “breakfast break.”

⚠️ b) Breaks of 5–60 Minutes (Article 141 Labor Code)

• The employer may introduce an additional break (e.g., for lunch),
• It is not included in working time (unless otherwise stipulated in the regulations),
• It may be unpaid.

🍼 c) Nursing Break (Article 187 Labor Code)

• Entitled to a nursing mother – 2 × 30 minutes (or 1 hour for work over 6 hours),
• Included in working time,
• Also applicable in the case of remote work.

🔸 2. Employee On-Call Duty (Article 151⁵ Labor Code)

🔄 Definition:

 
An on-call duty is the time when an employee is outside regular working hours but remains ready to perform work, e.g., at-home duty, weekend duty, with a phone. 

✅ Included in Working Time:

• Only the actual time worked during the on-call duty.

❌ Not Included:

• Simply remaining on standby (e.g., at home with the phone), unless work was performed.

💰 Compensation:

• The on-call duty time (not counted) is compensated with time off or remuneration.

📌 Exception: On-call duty performed at the workplace or where the employee does not have the freedom to manage time can be considered as working time in full (case law of the Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union).
 

🔸 3. Business Travel (Delegation)

🚗 Is business travel considered working time?

✅ It is included in working time when:

• it occurs during working hours,
• it involves driving a company car as a professional obligation (e.g., driver),
• it involves participation in meetings, training sessions, conferences.

❌ It is not included when:

• it occurs outside working hours (e.g., train travel after work),
• it is not associated with performing duties, but only with transportation.

📌 However, travel time outside working hours is not working time, but it may be the basis for the payment of per diem and reimbursement of costs (hotel, travel, parking, etc.).
 

🔸 4. Additional Situations

🧾 a) Training

• If organized by the employer and mandatory – always included in working time,
• If voluntary – it depends on the purpose and location of the training.

🕐 b) Waiting to Start Work (e.g., lack of access to systems, breakdown)

• Included in working time – the employee is on standby (Supreme Court judgment I PRN 63/78).

🔸 5. Records and Documentation

The employer is obliged to:

• maintain records of working time, including actual working hours and on-call duty,
• indicate which breaks are included (in the regulations or contract),
• document business trips – travel order, report, cost settlement.

📚 Legal Basis

• Labor Code, Articles 129–151, Articles 134–137, Article 141, Article 151⁵
• Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy from May 28, 1996 regarding the recording of working time
• Act on Working Time of Drivers (if applicable)
• Case law of the Supreme Court, including I PK 157/11 – on-call duty at home