Care worker secures win over minimum wage pay
[ch 3: page 37]Facts
Ms Slavikovska was employed as a care worker at a home for residents with learning difficulties. She was provided with accommodation for which she paid rent and under her contract she was required to sleep there overnight “to comply with the regulatory requirements … to provide back up during emergency situations”. She was paid £25 for each overnight shift.
Ruling
The EAT confirmed that Ms Slavikovska was a time worker for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999.
She was entitled to the National Minimum Wage for all her night-shift hours, whether or not she was actually carrying out any tasks on behalf of the employer, because her job was simply to be there.
The case follows the earlier ruling in the landmark case of Whittlestone v BJP Home Support UKEAT/0128/13 above.
Commentary
These rulings, although a victory for individual care workers, represent a significant challenge for disabled users in need of overnight care whose direct payments from their local authority must be sufficient to fund all the hours the carer spends sleeping at their home.
Esparon t/a Middle West Residential Care Home v Slavikovska [2014] UKEAT/0217/12