My employer is registered abroad. Do I have to sue in their country?

Usually not. Under Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, an employer domiciled in a Member State may be sued in the courts of the Member State in which he is domiciled, or in another Member State in the courts for the place where or from where the employee habitually carries out his work, or in the courts for the last place where he did so. An employer not domiciled in a Member State may be sued on the same basis.

My contract says disputes go to the courts of the company's seat. Is that binding?

Largely not. The provisions on employment jurisdiction may be departed from only by an agreement entered into after the dispute has arisen, or one which allows the employee to bring proceedings in courts other than those indicated in that Section. A clause signed on your first day can widen your options but not narrow them.

Does only driving time count?

No. What counts is working time, not driving time alone: loading, unloading, waiting at the ramp and roadside checks all belong in it. The driver card records to the minute when you started and when you stopped, and unlike witnesses it does not lose precision with age.

Guides / Where to bring a claim

Unpaid hours: which country's courts can you actually go to?

Q: Can my employer sue me in their own country?

No. The Regulation says an employer may bring proceedings only in the courts of the Member State in which the employee is domiciled. The protection runs one way: you may have a choice of forum, your employer does not.

Q: How is the place I habitually work decided for an international driver?

On the facts, not on the letterhead. In Nogueira and Others, the Court of Justice held that a contractual or regulatory label cannot be equated with the place where the employee habitually carries out their work, though it constitutes a significant indicium. What matters is where you actually start and end your runs, where you receive instructions, where the vehicle is based and where you return to.

Q: What should I do before starting any procedure?

Send your employer a written demand setting out the months, the number of hours and the amount, by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt or against signature, and keep a copy. In some countries this is a legal precondition, in others it interrupts the limitation period, and everywhere it produces a dated document proving what you asked for and when.

If your employer is registered in one Member State and you drive out of a depot in another, you are probably not stuck with the company's home courts. EU law lets an employee sue where — or from where — they habitually carry out their work. For an international driver, that single phrase changes everything.

Every country has its own deadlines, its own court fees and its own overtime rates — you will find a page for each of them on this site, in that country's own language. This page covers the layer above them: the rule that decides which country's system you are allowed to use in the first place.

1. The rule, in the Regulation's own words

Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 — the Brussels I recast — devotes a whole section to employment contracts. Article 21(1):

„An employer domiciled in a Member State may be sued: (a) in the courts of the Member State in which he is domiciled; or (b) in another Member State: (i) in the courts for the place where or from where the employee habitually carries out his work or in the courts for the last place where he did so; or (ii) if the employee does not or did not habitually carry out his work in any one country, in the courts for the place where the business which engaged the employee is or was situated.“

Read point (b)(i) again slowly: „where or from where“. Those three words were written with mobile workers in mind. You do not have to perform your work inside one country — it is enough that you set off from there.

And Article 21(2) closes the obvious gap: „An employer not domiciled in a Member State may be sued in a court of a Member State in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 1.“ A company registered outside the EU does not escape it.

2. The protection runs one way only

This is the part that surprises people, and it is worth knowing before anyone tries to intimidate you: „An employer may bring proceedings only in the courts of the Member State in which the employee is domiciled.“

You may have a choice of forum. Your employer does not. If they want to sue you, they have to come to your home country.

3. A clause in your contract cannot take it away

Many transport contracts contain a line saying that any dispute goes before the courts of the company's registered seat. Against an employee, that clause is largely powerless. Article 23:

„The provisions of this Section may be departed from only by an agreement: (1) which is entered into after the dispute has arisen; or (2) which allows the employee to bring proceedings in courts other than those indicated in this Section.“

In other words: a jurisdiction clause signed on your first day cannot narrow your options. It can only widen them. Anything signed before the dispute existed, that takes choices away from you, does not bind you.

4. „From where“ is decided on the facts, not on the letterhead

For mobile workers the Court of Justice does not accept a purely formal answer. In Nogueira and Others (C-168/16 and C-169/16) it held that a contractual or regulatory label — there, the „home base“ of air crew — „cannot be equated with“ the place where the employee habitually carries out their work, though it „constitutes nevertheless a significant indicium“ for determining it.

The same logic is what matters to a driver. What counts is where you actually start and end your runs, where you receive your instructions, where the vehicle is based and where you return to — not the address printed on the company's registration certificate.

So before anything else, write down the facts: the depot you leave from, who dispatches you, where the truck is parked between runs, where you are told to report. Those are the elements a court will weigh.

5. Then apply that country's rules — and they differ enormously

Choosing the forum is only the first decision. Once you know which country, the practical questions have wildly different answers: the limitation period runs from four months in one place to ten years in another, court fees range from nothing at all to a percentage of the sum claimed, and in several countries a free tripartite body decides the case without a judge.

Use the language switcher at the top of this page to open the guide for the country concerned. Each one is written from that country's own legislation, with the sources linked.

6. Whatever the country: put the claim in writing first

Send your employer a written demand setting out the months, the number of hours and the amount. Registered post with acknowledgement of receipt, or against signature, and keep a copy.

In some countries this step is a legal precondition. In others it interrupts the limitation period and starts a fresh one. Everywhere it produces a dated document proving what you asked for and when — which is exactly what is missing from most files that fail.

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7. The evidence: your driver card

The driver card records to the minute when you started and when you stopped — driving, other work, availability. What counts is working time, not driving time alone: loading, unloading, waiting at the ramp and roadside checks all belong in it.

It is also the one record that does not lose precision with age. Witnesses forget; a tachograph file from three years ago is as exact as the day it was written.

Legal basis

The links point to the official consolidated texts and to the competent EU institutions.

Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 (Brussels I recast)
Section 5 — jurisdiction over individual contracts of employment · Article 21 — where the employer may be sued · Article 22 — where the employer may sue · Article 23 — limits on jurisdiction clauses · EUR-Lex · en
Court of Justice — Nogueira and Others, C-168/16 and C-169/16
A contractual or regulatory label cannot be equated with the place where the employee habitually carries out their work, but is a significant indicium · en
European Commission — Mobility Package I
Driving times, posting rules and enforcement in road transport · en

General information, position as at August 2026 — not legal advice. Jurisdiction under the Regulation is one question; the deadlines, fees and rates that then apply are national, and your employment contract and any applicable collective agreement remain decisive. If in doubt: your trade union, the labour inspectorate of the country concerned, or a lawyer.