UNISON has asked the Supreme Court for permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision that care workers’ sleep-in shifts do not count as work time and do not need to be paid at the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
The move follows the Court of Appeal decision that found in favour of mental health charity and care provider Mencap. The decision was widely welcomed by the care industry, which warned that it would be financially crippled if it had to pay the NMW for sleep-in shifts and award six years’ back pay to staff. However, the Supreme Court will now decide whether to grant the right to appeal this decision.
The union’s head of legal services, Adam Crème, said: “We believe the Court of Appeal got this decision completely wrong and will do everything we can to reverse it.”
He said that it was reasonable to expect that the court will agree to hear an appeal.
UNISON originally took the case to an employment tribunal on behalf of care worker Clare Tomlinson-Blake. It argued that sleep-in shifts should count as working time, and should be paid an hourly minimum wage rate or higher.
