Employment law at events: On-call duty is treated as working time

Following recent rulings by the Federal Labour Court, it was clarified once again last week that, under certain conditions, on-call duty at events counts as working time. This applies in particular to situations where staff must be ready for duty within 15 to 20 minutes.

This regulation has a direct impact on shift planning and remuneration, particularly for events with technical or service staff ‘on call’. On-call periods must then be taken into account in rest periods and working time regulations.

This applies in particular to event agencies, technical service providers and event staff planners. For multi-day events, this can lead to higher staffing costs, as additional rest periods and remuneration must be factored in.