This has led to areas of dispute and interpreting the law wrong can prove costly. The Government has decided to consolidate the law into one set of Regulations. These have been published in draft and the Government has launched a consultation which provides an opportunity to comment on areas where the law is unclear.
One area in desperate need of clarification relates to sleep-ins. Many employers who provide care and support are under pressure to change their pay arrangements for staff working sleep-ins. These staff are typically paid an allowance that is less than the minimum wage because they are allowed to sleep throughout the shift unless they are disturbed. The pressure for change is because two recent cases found that workers should be paid the minimum wage for every hour of a sleep-in. Those cases conflict with the Government’s own guidance on sleep in arrangements which provide “workers are not entitled to the minimum wage while they are on standby or on call and are asleep or entitled to sleep”. The guidance seems to reflect the recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission when the National Minimum Wage was introduced. A Court of Appeal case has previously found that a worker was not entitled to the minimum wage for every hour of a sleep in where the work was treated as unmeasured work. This consultation presents an opportunity for the housing sector to influence the law on this key issue so take your opportunity to contribute. The consultation closes on 15 September 2014.
For further information, please contact Matthew Wort on matthew.wort@anthonycollins.com or 0121 214 3501.
Providers need to be alive to the risk of contractors becoming insolvent and how to limit the resulting inevitable disruption.
Housing associations must continue to deliver core functions effectively and compliantly notwithstanding the uncertainty over the standards to which you will be held in the future.
Over the last few years the meaning of “asset management” has changed from being all about repairs to understanding that assets might not stay in an organisation forever.
The Grenfell Tower tragedy has understandably prompted a fundamental reconsideration of how building safety is approached for High-Rise Residential Buildings.
Results from the latest three-yearly valuation of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) are starting to trickle through.
The potential for Brexit with or without a deal causes uncertainty, and credit rating agencies do not like uncertainty.
Let’s face it, Wills are underappreciated and often overlooked. In fact, around 54% of the British public do not have one!
A recent case throws light on the scope of the exemption for “land transactions” from the need for an OJEU tender process.
A leaked report into maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust revealed by The Independent has been described as the “largest maternity scandal in NHS history”.
The Pensions Regulator is showing its determination to improve the prudent management of Local Government Pension funds by digging deep into the internal workings of these funds.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.