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Glossary of working-time terms

Stand-by duty

DefinitionWith on-call duty the person has to be reachable and take up work when needed, but may stay where they choose. It in principle does not count towards working time, but the actual call-outs do.
As of: September 2026
Contents
  1. The difference from stand-by duty
  2. When it does become working time
  3. What belongs in the arrangement
  4. Example: a weekend on call
  5. Common mistake

The difference from stand-by duty

With stand-by duty the employer determines the place, with on-call duty it does not. The assessment in working time law hangs on exactly that: anyone who can move freely and largely arrange their own time is not working.

Being reachable alone does not make it working time. Nor does a requirement to be at the workplace within a certain time necessarily change that.

When it does become working time

On 09/03/2021, in two cases (C-580/19 and C-344/19), the European Court of Justice held that on-call duty is working time in full where the restrictions objectively and very substantially affect the ability to make use of free time.

What matters are the response time and the average frequency of call-outs. A response time of a few minutes combined with frequent call-outs points to working time, a response time of an hour with rare call-outs against it. Organisational difficulties that do not come from the employer, such as living somewhere remote, are left out of account.

What belongs in the arrangement

The response time, the expected frequency of call-outs, the pay for the on-call period itself and the pay for the call-outs. And the question of how the call-outs are recorded: without records, neither the working time nor the pay can be demonstrated later.

Example: a weekend on call

  1. Saturday 08:00 to Monday 08:00, response time 45 minutes.
  2. Two call-outs of 90 minutes each, plus 30 minutes' travel there and back each time.
  3. Working time: 2 × (90 + 60) minutes = 5 hours.
  4. The remaining 43 hours are not working time, but under the arrangement are usually paid as a flat rate.

Common mistake

The response time gets set at ten minutes because it is organisationally convenient. Under the case law of the ECJ, the on-call duty then tips into working time in full, and a weekend becomes 48 hours.

Further readingECJ, judgments of 09/03/2021, C-580/19 and C-344/19Section 5(3) ArbZG

This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.

Ugur Aydogan, product development at AMNAU GmbH

Published by: AMNAU GmbH

Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.

Last reviewed: 2 September 2026

Related terms

Related

In detailStand-by duty, on-call duty and readiness for work
On-call duty

Stand-by duty means staying at a place determined by the employer in order to start work immediately when needed. It counts as working time in full.

Look up On-call dutyReadiness for work

Readiness for work is the time at the workplace in which no work arises but work has to be reckoned with at any moment. The case law describes it as alert attention in a state of relaxation.

Look up Readiness for workRest period

The rest period is the continuous free time between the end of one working day and the start of the next. It is at least eleven hours.

Look up Rest period
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