Section 339 | Meaning of “workplace” and “permanent workplace”

(1)In this Part “workplace”, in relation to an employment, means a place at which the employee’s attendance is necessary in the performance of the duties of the employment.

(2)In this Part “permanent workplace”, in relation to an employment, means a place which—

(a)the employee regularly attends in the performance of the duties of the employment, and

(b)is not a temporary workplace.This is subject to subsections (4) and (8).

(3)In subsection (2) “temporary workplace”, in relation to an employment, means a place which the employee attends in the performance of the duties of the employment—

(a)for the purpose of performing a task of limited duration, or

(b)for some other temporary purpose.This is subject to subsections (4) and (5).

(4)A place which the employee regularly attends in the performance of the duties of the employment is treated as a permanent workplace and not a temporary workplace if—

(a)it forms the base from which those duties are performed, or

(b)the tasks to be carried out in the performance of those duties are allocated there.

(5)A place is not regarded as a temporary workplace if the employee’s attendance is—

(a)in the course of a period of continuous work at that place—

(i)lasting more than 24 months, or

(ii)comprising all or almost all of the period for which the employee is likely to hold the employment, or

(b)at a time when it is reasonable to assume that it will be in the course of such a period.

(6)For the purposes of subsection (5), a period is a period of continuous work at a place if over the period the duties of the employment are performed to a significant extent at the place.

(7)An actual or contemplated modification of the place at which duties are performed is to be disregarded for the purposes of subsections (5) and (6) if it does not, or would not, have any substantial effect on the employee’s journey, or expenses of travelling, to and from the place where they are performed.

(8)An employee is treated as having a permanent workplace consisting of an area if—

(a)the duties of the employment are defined by reference to an area (whether or not they also require attendance at places outside it),

(b)in the performance of those duties the employee attends different places within the area,

(c)none of the places the employee attends in the performance of those duties is a permanent workplace, and

(d)the area would be a permanent workplace if subsections (2), (3), (5), (6) and (7) referred to the area where they refer to a place.