In a case brought by care support worker Claire Tomlinson-Blake against Royal Mencap Society, an employment tribunal ruled in August 2016 that sleep-in shifts must be paid at NMW. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) agreed in an appeal judgment in April 2017. However, earlier this month, the Court of Appeal overturned these previous rulings, deciding that sleep-in shifts did not attract NMW. In his judgment, with which the other two judges unanimously agreed, Lord Justice Underhill explained this was because sleep-in workers were “available for work” but not “actually working”. The Court of Appeal judgment was welcomed by many employers in the social care sector, which had faced a reported £400m pay bill between them if the original tribunal finding was upheld. However, trade union Unison announced it was considering an appeal to the Supreme Court shortly after the Court of Appeal’s judgment was handed down.
When asked about the future of SCCS, a government spokesperson said: “We are considering the [Court of Appeal] judgment and will comment shortly on its implications.”
CIPP comment We notice that HMRC’s guidance (Tell HMRC if you’ve underpaid National Minimum Wage in the social care sector) has removed the ‘Decide if sleep-in shifts are counted as work’ section - we assume this has been done to reflect the latest ruling that sleep-in shifts do not attract NMW.
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Deliveroo presented with ‘map and compass’ to help lead the reform of gig economy work 25 July 2018
A report by MP Frank Field on Deliveroo recommends that the company should guarantee hourly pay rates of no less than the National Living Wage for all the time that people are logged in and available for work.
The report also recommends that in order to counter the cat and mouse game of individuals having to take companies to employment tribunals, employment law should be reformed so that it is companies who have to prove beyond doubt they meet certain criteria showing their workforce to be self-employed. Over the past two years, Frank and his colleague Andrew Forsey have published a series of reports based on hundreds of testimonies from people who work with Hermes, Uber, DPD and Parcelforce. The reports have shone a bright light on the extent of low pay, exploitation, and bogus self-employment afflicting all too many workers at the bottom of the labour market. Last month Frank Field MP launched another inquiry into pay, working conditions and basic rights at Deliveroo. The findings from this inquiry have just been published and presents Deliveroo with a map and compass to help achieve its stated objective of striking a more just balance between flexibility and security for riders working with the company
This latest report finds that:
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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