Providers will be hoping that the Government’s acceptance that previous guidance was misleading, as per the 26 July 2017 announcement, means that they will not need to repay alleged before February 2015. Even payments for that period are, in our view, something that the Government should not require, given the approach to enforcement taken by HMRC until summer 2016 about sleep-ins. This is in addition to the obvious failure to properly consider why time spent asleep in a sleep-in is working time when time spent asleep in a live-in care setting isn’t. The circumstances of the “sleep” in both settings is not materially different. With the Mencap case not being heard until March 2018, and the fact that the case won’t be considering an argument that a sleep-in is unmeasured work, we consider final certainty on this issue is still a long time away.
In the meantime, as the Government confirmed on 26 July 2017, it expects all employers to pay their workers as set out in the BEIS guidance ‘Calculating the National Minimum Wage’ and any employer underpaying their staff for “sleep-in” shifts following that date will be liable to pay financial penalties. Providers need to be aware that where a care worker is doing time/salaried work, even when they are asleep and waiting to work, HMRC will take the view that they are in fact likely to be working where:
Our team of NMW experts that have experience of, and can assist with:
For further information and assistance with any NMW issues or HMRC inspections, please contact Anna Dabek, Matthew Wort or your usual contact in our employment team.
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