Travel time and expenses for a roving trainer: what the training organisation must plan for

A salaried trainer who runs sessions at several client sites during the week, an instructor driving an hour and a half to reach a one-off training venue: travelling between sites is part of daily life for many training organisations, yet it raises questions rarely anticipated at the hiring stage. Does the journey count as working time? Must mileage be reimbursed? What changes when a trip requires an overnight stay? Here is what labour law provides, and how to translate it into your contracts and practices.

Distinguishing the usual commute from professional travel

The starting point is a distinction many employers confuse: the ordinary commute between home and the habitual place of work, unpaid in principle, and professional travel to a place of work different from the one set out in the contract. For a roving trainer, the “habitual place of work” is rarely a fixed site: it may be the organisation’s registered office, a main training centre, or a geographic area defined in the employment contract. Every journey to a training site that departs from this reference then falls under the regime of professional travel, not the ordinary home-to-work commute.

This classification is not a theoretical detail: it determines whether the trainer is entitled to compensation for time spent on the road, on top of expenses.

The principle set out in Article L. 3121-4 of the Labour Code

The Labour Code sets a clear two-part rule. First, professional travel time to reach the place where the contract is performed is not, in itself, actual working time — so it is not paid as such. Second, if it exceeds the normal travel time between home and the habitual place of work, it must be compensated, in rest time or financially, on terms set by a collective agreement or, failing that, by a unilateral employer decision after consulting the works council (comité social et économique) if one exists.

There is an important exception: if, during the journey, the trainer remains at the employer’s disposal and must follow instructions without being free to attend to personal matters, the time is then reclassified as actual working time in full — with knock-on effects on the calculation of overtime. This is the case, for example, of a trainer who must transport heavy teaching equipment supplied by the organisation and stay reachable throughout the journey for last-minute instructions.

What your contract or agreement should include

In the absence of an industry-wide agreement covering this point, it falls to the organisation to set the applicable compensation. Three elements deserve to be put in writing, ideally in the trainer’s employment contract or in an appended internal memo:

• The definition of the trainer’s habitual place of work — head office, branch, or geographic area — used as the reference for assessing what counts as exceeding it.
• The type of compensation chosen (compensatory rest, a flat allowance, an hourly premium) and how it is calculated.
• The trigger threshold, i.e. the number of minutes or kilometres beyond the usual commute at which compensation applies.

The national collective bargaining agreement for training organisations (IDCC 1516) may include more favourable provisions on this point: it is essential to check the article currently in force before drafting a clause, rather than relying on a generic template.

Travel expenses: mandatory coverage, a free choice of method

Distinct from the question of time, the matter of expenses is simpler in principle: an employee should never personally bear professional expenses incurred for the needs of the job. The employer must cover them, whether on an actual-cost basis (against receipts), as a flat allowance, or using the mileage scale published each year by the tax authorities — a commonly used reference because it allows exemption from social contributions within certain limits, without any legal obligation to follow it.

This scale, which varies according to the vehicle’s fiscal horsepower and the number of kilometres driven during the year, was updated within a regulatory framework overhauled by a decree of 4 September 2025, which repealed the 2002 text that had until then served as the reference for exempting professional expenses. The exact rate changes every year: it is best to check the scale published at the time of reimbursement rather than rely on a figure quoted in an article published months earlier.

The case of extended travel away from home

When an assignment requires the trainer to stay overnight — a training site too far away for a same-day round trip — accommodation and meal expenses come into play, distinct from the ordinary daily commute. These “extended travel” expenses are likewise the employer’s responsibility, generally based on daily flat rates updated annually by Urssaf, or on actual receipts if the organisation prefers that option. A written travel policy, even a brief one, avoids case-by-case negotiations and misunderstandings over what is reimbursable.

The special case of the freelance trainer

These rules apply only to salaried trainers. A freelance trainer — sole trader, working through wage portage, or operating through a company — is not subject to Article L. 3121-4, which is reserved for the employment relationship of subordination. Their travel time and expenses are governed solely by commercial negotiation with the organisation or the end client: to be built into the quote, the subcontracting agreement, or the service contract, with no reference to labour law. This is a point to clarify at the contracting stage, to avoid an external trainer discovering, only when invoicing, that their travel is not covered.

What a Qualiopi auditor looks at

Managing travel time and expenses is not a Qualiopi checkpoint in itself, but it fits within the logic of indicator 17 on adequate human and technical resources: an organisation that relies on roving trainers must demonstrate that it genuinely organises their work across several sites, which presupposes clear rules on availability and compensation. Up-to-date contracts, a written travel policy, and archived expense reports are also useful evidence for indicator 21 on the competence of contributors, showing that the organisation actually tracks each trainer’s activity, including off-site work.

What research says about the cost of commuting for employees

Time spent on the road is not neutral for the person living it, even when it is financially compensated. A study that has become a reference in labour economics, published in 2008 in the Scandinavian Journal of Economics by Alois Stutzer and Bruno S. Frey under the title “Stress that Doesn’t Pay: The Commuting Paradox,” shows that longer commuting time reduces workers’ reported satisfaction more sharply than the financial compensation received in exchange would suggest (see the study). For an organisation employing roving trainers, this research suggests not reducing the travel question to financial compensation alone: limiting imposed distances, pooling trips, or spacing out distant assignments also helps retain trainers — a direct concern for pedagogical continuity.

Checklist before sending a trainer on the road

• Is the trainer’s habitual place of work defined in writing in their contract?
• Is compensation for excess travel time (rest or financial) provided for, with its trigger threshold specified?
• Are the terms for reimbursing mileage or flat-rate expenses written into a travel policy or internal memo?
• Is extended travel away from home (accommodation, meals) distinguished from the daily commute?
• For a freelance trainer, are travel expenses explicitly addressed in the service contract or quote?

Take action

An employment contract template for trainers, a travel policy framework, and the evidence expected for indicators tied to human resources: the Complete Kit Certif at €297 (14-day guarantee) saves you from starting from a blank page on these HR topics. If you are just starting out, the ebook Create Your Training Organisation in 30 Days at €67 sets the right contractual foundations from the moment you hire your first trainer, and the Kit + Ebook Pack at €347 combines both resources.