Working away from home is no longer unusual. You may be asking an employee to travel to different sites, work at a client’s premises, stay overnight, or spend long periods away from their usual base. In some roles, travel is part of everyday work. In others, it happens only occasionally.
Either way, employee rights working away from home is not just a practical issue. It is a legal one. Problems often appear later, when there is a pay dispute, sickness absence, grievance, or resignation. At that point, informal arrangements and assumptions can quickly become risky.
This guide explains what employee rights apply when someone works away from home, and what you need to get right as a UK employer.
What Does “Working Away From Home” Mean?
UK law does not give one clear definition of “working away from home”. Instead, rights depend on how the work is actually done, not just what you call it.
Working away from home can include:
- Travelling to different sites or branches
- Visiting clients as part of the role
- Being sent temporarily to another location
- Mobile or field-based work with no fixed workplace
- Staying overnight for work
The key point is this: different working patterns create different legal duties. You cannot assume that all travel is just “commuting” or that working away from home removes your responsibilities as an employer.
Start With The Employment Contract
Employee rights working away from home usually begin with the contract.
You should check what the contract says about:
- Place of work
- Mobility or relocation
- Travel requirements
- Working hours
- Expenses
If the contract says the employee is based at a specific location, but in reality they are regularly sent elsewhere, you may be creating risk. Over time, this can lead to claims such as:
- Breach of contract
- Unlawful deduction from wages
- Constructive dismissal
Mobility Clauses Are Not Unlimited
Some contracts include a mobility clause allowing you to move the employee’s place of work. These clauses must be used reasonably.
Even if the clause is valid, tribunals will look at:
- How far the employee is expected to travel
- How much notice you gave
- How long the change lasts
- The personal impact on the employee
A clause does not give you the right to impose unreasonable travel or sudden changes without consultation.
Practice Matters Too
What you do in practice can be just as important as what the contract says.
If you have allowed home working or limited travel for a long time, and then suddenly change this, an employee may argue the arrangement has become part of their contract or that your decision is unreasonable.
Is Travel Time Working Time?
This is one of the most common questions around employee rights working away from home.
Travel time is sometimes working time, but not always.
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, working time includes periods when the worker is:
- Working
- At your disposal
- Carrying out their duties
Ordinary Commuting
Travel between home and a fixed workplace is usually not working time. This is ordinary commuting.
Travel That May Count As Working Time
Travel may count as working time where:
- The employee has no fixed workplace
- Travel is essential to the role
- The employee is travelling between sites during the day
- The employee is travelling to temporary assignments
For example, if someone starts their day travelling directly from home to a client site because that is how the job works, that travel may count as working time.
Why This Matters
If travel counts as working time, it affects:
- Daily and weekly rest breaks
- Maximum weekly working hours
- Fatigue and health and safety
- Pay calculations
If travel is not recorded properly, you may unknowingly breach working time limits.
Do You Have To Pay For Travel Time?
Whether travel time must be paid depends on:
- Whether it counts as working time
- What the contract says
- What you have done in practice
Even if you decide travel time is unpaid, you still need to check National Minimum Wage compliance.
National Minimum Wage Risk
If employees spend long hours travelling but receive fixed pay or day rates, their effective hourly pay may fall below the National Minimum Wage.
HMRC looks at reality, not job titles or labels. If work-related travel reduces pay below the legal minimum, you may face:
- Back pay liability
- Financial penalties
- Enforcement action
What Expenses Must You Cover?
There is no general rule saying you must reimburse all expenses. However, employee rights working away from home often create indirect legal obligations.
Minimum Wage Again
If employees have to pay travel, accommodation, or subsistence costs to do their job, and you do not reimburse them, those costs can reduce their effective pay.
If pay falls below the National Minimum Wage as a result, you are in breach.
Contract And Policy Commitments
If your contract or expenses policy says you will reimburse reasonable expenses, failing to do so may be an unlawful deduction from wages.
Even where contracts are silent, tribunals may expect employers to cover costs that are clearly business-related and unavoidable.
Be Clear And Consistent
Problems often arise when:
- Managers agree exceptions informally
- Finance applies different rules
- Policies do not match reality
You should clearly explain:
- What expenses you will reimburse
- How claims should be made
- Any limits or caps
Be careful with rigid caps. What looks reasonable on paper may not work in practice, especially where travel options are limited.
Health And Safety Still Applies
Employee rights working away from home do not remove your health and safety duties.
Under UK law, you must take reasonable steps to protect employees while they are at work, even when they are:
- Working from home
- Working at client premises
- Travelling
- Working alone
Home Working Risks
For home workers, obvious issues include:
- Workstation setup
- Display screen equipment
Less obvious risks include:
- Stress
- Isolation
- Blurred work-life boundaries
These issues often appear later during sickness absence or grievances.
Mobile And Site-Based Work
For employees working away from home, you should consider risks such as:
- Driving and fatigue
- Long working days
- Lone working
- Unfamiliar or unsafe locations
You do not need to eliminate every risk, but you do need to show you thought about them and acted reasonably.
Paper trails matter if something goes wrong.
Can An Employee Refuse To Work Away From Home?
There is no simple yes or no answer.
Whether an employee can refuse depends on:
- The contract
- The reason for refusal
- How reasonable your request is
No Contractual Right
If the contract does not allow working away from home, forcing it may be a breach of contract.
Health And Safety Concerns
If an employee refuses because they believe the work is unsafe, they may be protected from detriment or dismissal.
Ignoring genuine safety concerns is risky.
Equality And Discrimination
Requests to work away from home can affect employees with:
- Caring responsibilities
- Disabilities
- Health conditions
You may need to consider reasonable adjustments or alternatives. Failing to do so can lead to discrimination claims.
Monitoring, Data, And Trust
When people work away from home, employers often think about monitoring performance.
This is understandable, but monitoring can quickly create problems if handled badly.
Heavy-handed monitoring can lead to:
- Grievances
- Loss of trust
- Data protection concerns
If you monitor employees, you should:
- Be open about what you are doing
- Explain why
- Keep it proportionate
In practice, focusing on outputs, objectives, and regular check-ins usually works better than surveillance tools.
Changing Working Away Arrangements
Employee rights working away from home become most sensitive when you change the arrangement.
If home working or limited travel has been in place for a long time, employees may have reorganised their lives around it.
Sudden changes can lead to:
- Grievances
- Refusals
- Claims
A safer approach is to:
- Explain the business reasons
- Consult with employees
- Listen to concerns
- Consider phased or hybrid options
If you cannot agree, document your reasoning carefully.
Why Getting This Right Matters
Handled well, working away from home can be flexible, productive, and fair.
Handled badly, it often becomes the starting point for:
- Pay disputes
- Health and safety complaints
- Stress-related absence
- Tribunal claims
Most problems do not come from bad intentions. They come from vague arrangements, poor communication, and inconsistent practice.
If you are unsure where you stand, getting advice early is usually far easier than defending a dispute later.
Final Thoughts
Employee rights working away from home affect contracts, pay, working time, expenses, health and safety, and employee relations. You cannot treat it as an informal or temporary issue.
If you are clear, consistent, and reasonable, you reduce legal risk and keep people engaged. That benefits both you and your employees.
Understanding these rights is not about losing control. It is about managing work away from home in a way that is lawful, fair, and sustainable.