The Employment Appeal Tribunal has recently considered the rights of employees who are on-call.

July 11, 2019
Roger Tynan

Partner

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In Frudd v Partington Group the employees worked at a caravan site and were expected to be on-call after their shifts until 8am the following morning. They claimed this was “time work” so that they were entitled to be paid the national minimum wage. The “sleep-in” exception in the Mencap case did not apply because they were not on a sleep-in.

The EAT upheld the tribunal’s finding that between the end of their shift and 10pm they were working because their responsibilities included showing prospective customers around and welcoming late arrivals. They were therefore entitled to be paid the national minimum wage for that period. They were not, however, required to carry out such duties after 10pm, unless they were called out for an emergency for which they were paid. After 10pm, unless called out, they were not entitled to be paid whilst merely on-call.

A brief reminder that with effect from 1 April 2019 the national living wage (for workers over 25) increased by 4.9%, from £7.83 per hour to £8.21 per hour.

The national minimum wage also increased as follows:

  • £3.90 per hour for apprentices.
  • £4.35 an hour for 16-17 year olds
  • £6.15 an hour for 18-20 year olds
  • £7.70 an hour for 21-24 year olds.