NMW for hours spent sleeping

An hourly paid worker is entitled to be paid for all the hours for which they are contracted to work. The fact that the work they are contracted to do during those hours involves sleeping, or watching the television, is irrelevant to whether they should be paid. Instead, what matters is whether they are obliged to work, i.e. under the direction or control of the employer, during those hours. This will be the case if, for example, the employer is entitled to discipline them if they leave the premises during their shift without permission.

Here are some illustrations from the cases:

• a night watchman required to be at the premises all night was entitled to the NMW throughout this period because being at the premises was his work. The fact that he might be asleep or watching TV for some of the time was irrelevant. If the employer wanted him to use this working time more productively, it should have assigned him tasks to do during the hours spent at work (Scottbridge Construction v Wright [2003] IRLR 21);

• home-based workers answering night-time telephone enquiries were entitled to the NMW throughout their shift. It did not matter that they could do other things when not answering the phone — even sleeping — or how many calls they got. Their work was to be available to answer calls as and when they came in (British Nursing Association v Inland Revenue [2002] IRLR 480);

• an hourly paid care worker required to sleep overnight at the home of service users was entitled to the NMW for the whole night shift. She was required to be at the premises for the duration of the shift by her employer. The fact that she was sleeping and rarely disturbed by the service users was irrelevant (Whittlestone v BJP Home Support Limited [2013] UKEAT 0128/13/1907);

• a hotel manager required to sleep at the hotel several nights a week to cover for emergencies such as fire or flood was entitled to the NMW for each shift, because he was required to be there by his employer (Anderson v Jarvis [2006] UKEAT 0062/05/3005).