Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake
Care workers on sleep in shifts, who were required to be available to provide assistance if needed but were permitted to sleep, were not entitled to the national minimum wage for the whole shift.
Facts
Mrs Tomlinson-Blake was a care worker employed by Mencap to provide support to vulnerable adults in their own homes. She worked sleep in shifts, during which she was required to remain at the house and to be available to provide assistance if needed, but was permitted to sleep. She was paid a flat rate for each sleep in shift, together with an hourly rate for any time spent providing assistance. She claimed that she was entitled to the national minimum wage for every hour of the shift.
Legal principle
The Supreme Court held that she was not entitled to the minimum wage for the time when she was asleep. Lady Arden said that, under the National Minimum Wage Regulations, a worker who is available for work at or near the place of work, and who is permitted to sleep, is to be treated as working only when she is awake for the purpose of working. The legislation was based on the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission, which had intended that sleep in workers should not be paid the minimum wage for the whole of the time they were on call. The decision had major financial implications for the care sector.
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