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Working Time: Time When Sleeping

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Shannon v Clifton House Residential

In this case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) considered whether an on-call night worker who lived at his place of work was entitled to the National Minimum Wage (“NMW”) for all hours of the night, or, if he was only entitled to NMW for the hours during which he was awake and carrying out his duties.

The Claimant lived in the residential home where he was employed. The time in question was not classed by his employer as working time because this was time he was entitled to spend at home. It was found that the Claimant fell into one of the exceptions and therefore was not entitled to the NMW for this time. When making their decision, the EAT gave consideration to the fact that there was another night worker on duty at the time and also took into account the fact that, in practice, the Claimant was rarely called upon to carry out any work during the night.

In Practice

Employment Associate Paul Burton explains, "This is an interesting case and another example of how cases of this nature are particularly fact sensitive. The outcome of the case is good news for employers and demonstrates that mere presence in the workplace does not itself necessarily entitle a worker to the NMW for the whole shift."

Our Employment Team, based in Christchurch, also cover Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forest. For a free initial chat, please call 01202 499255 and Paul or a member of the team will be happy to discuss any questions that you may have.

The content of this article, blog or video is not intended as specific legal advice. For tailored assistance, please contact a member of our team.

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