“HMRC enforce National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation in line with the policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and do not have discretion to take action outside of the law. For all minimum wage investigations, HMRC officers must consider the facts available to them to allow them to draw a balanced conclusion. They must, though, require all employers to pay back any arrears that they find. The legislation on whether workers employed on a sleeping shift are working and entitled to National Minimum Wage has been tested at Tribunal, and BEIS guidance and HMRC operational practice follow that case law. The case law is very fact-specific and each case HMRC investigate is treated on its own merits and requires the facts to be established to ensure the circumstances of each worker are taken into account. If there is a statutory requirement for a worker to be present or they would face disciplinary action if they left the workplace, they would usually be entitled to NMW or NLW, including whilst sleeping, because they are working for the whole time they are on shift. Where an underpayment is identified, HMRC will issue a Notice of Underpayment specifying the arrears due for the full period the worker was underpaid, up to a maximum of six years. To help employers meet NMW legislation, BEIS have published guidance on how to calculate the minimum wage, which includes examples of when a worker is sleeping. You can find it here."
This approach in part reflects some of their published guidance. However, the emphasis on following case law gives a clearer indication of their approach to inspection than that contained within the published guidance. There are not many providers we know who can let sleep-in staff come and go as they please. We have a number of cases ongoing with HMRC where we have raised various questions and if we have any further news that may impact on your approach to payment of sleep-ins will provide a further update.
For further information
For a discussion on the impact on your approach to sleep-ins please contact Matthew Wort or Anna Dabek. You can also find out more about how we can help health and social care organisations on our website here.
On 23 July, trainees from Anthony Collins Solicitors will host an ‘experience day’, which will involve various activities and presentations, with lawyers and non-lawyers from across the firm.
In the second part of our series on contract management pitfalls, we look at the risks and opportunities presented by payment mechanisms in construction contracts.
Under most construction contracts, the contractor takes on the ground conditions risk. However, a recent case has demonstrated that the risk can fall on the employer.
The UK Government has been consulting on how it should promote social value in its procurements. Here is our response that we submitted to the consultation...
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 came into force on 1 June 2019.
A recent case in the Court of Appeal will no doubt bring a sigh of relief for employers, but a corresponding sigh of disappointment may be uttered for equality and gender balance in the workplace.
This briefing assists response to the consultation paper by outlining the consultation questions, providing some background information and prompting some thoughts and potential answers.
A report published on 29 May by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that since 2009-10, local government spending on services has fallen on average by 21% in real terms.
A long-awaited decision of the Court of Appeal has clarified that a lower standard of proof should apply than previously thought before an Inquest can return a conclusion of suicide.
New regulations come into force on 1 June 2019, amending the Section 21 (s21) prescribed form template for use with assured shorthold tenancies.
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