Outer Temple Pupil wins claim for sleep-shifts at National Minimum Wage

Pupil barrister Miranda de Savorgnani recently represented a worker with a complex holiday/ National Minimum Wage claim in Hall v Care One Ltd. Miranda was instructed by the Free Representation Unit.

Ms Hall was a residential care worker who worked three regular 10 hour “sleep-overs” during which she carried out evening duties, tended to residents or slept. She was paid the minimum wage for day shifts but only a £25 allowance for each sleep-over.

Ms de Savorgnani successfully argued that the nightshifts should have been paid at the NMW rate, distinguishing a recent case in which the EAT had held that a ‘sleeping’ night shift did not attract the NMW. She also persuaded the tribunal that Ms Hall’s average wage for the purposes of accrued holiday pay should take account of her regular nightshift work, relying on the recent CJEU judgment in C-155/10 Williams v British Airways Plc.

News 2 Feb, 2012