
The Academies Financial Handbook is updated annually by the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency; it contains a number of governance requirements for academy trusts.
The update can be found here.
The updated section of the BEIS Guidance now states:
“Sleep-in” shifts
In some sectors – including, but not only, the care sector – workers are required to stay at or near their workplace on the basis that they are expected to sleep for all or most of the period but may be woken when required to undertake work. Such shifts normally occur at night but could occur during the day. If the employer provides suitable facilities for sleeping, minimum wage must be paid for time when the worker is required to be awake for the purpose of working, but not for time the worker is permitted to sleep. However, if suitable sleeping facilities are not provided then minimum wage must be paid for the entire shift.
The position is different where workers are working and not expected to sleep for all or most of a shift, even if there are occasions when they are permitted to sleep (such as when not busy). In this case it is likely minimum wage must be paid for the whole of the shift on the basis that the worker is in effect working all of that time, including for the time spent asleep.
Each case may be different depending on all of its individual circumstances, including what the contract provides and what is happening in practice. If you are unsure about the arrangements you have in relation to the National Minimum Wage, you can contact the Acas Helpline on 0300 123 1100.
The Supreme Court
This guidance reflects the law as it currently stands, in particular as determined by the Court of Appeal’s judgment in the joined cases of Mencap v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad ([2018] EWCA Civ 1641). If the Supreme Court considers the appeal being made, it might issue a judgment which changes the circumstances in which national minimum wage is due for sleep-in shifts. Any judgment is unlikely to be issued before 2019 and possibly not until 2020.
Whilst any challenge in the Supreme Court is ongoing, employers must continue to comply with the law as it currently stands.”
Our Comments
The updated guidance appears consistent with the Court of Appeal decision in Mencap where it was found that generally, it is only time spent awake and working during a sleep-in that counts as working time for National Minimum Wage purposes.
In essence, where a care worker is undertaking a night shift and:
The headline consequences of the updated BEIS Guidance are:
Contact us
If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please get in touch with your usual contact in our Employment Team or email Regena Hodgson to set up a meeting/call with one of our team to discuss your approach.
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