Care England win the right to intervene in the Court of Appeal hearing in the Mencap case

Care England has won the right to intervene in the Royal Mencap Society vs Tomlinson-Blake case to be heard at the Court of Appeal on 20th-21st March. The Employment Tribunal ruled last year that Mrs Tomlinson-Blake was entitled to be paid National Minimum Wage (NMW) for the entirety of her shift including time spent asleep. This decision was upheld on appeal. Government had amended its guidance, reversing earlier guidance that time spent asleep did not count toward time for NMW purposes, now stating that employers must establish if an employee is working, even when asleep, in which case NMW would be due. 

Care England is the UK’s largest representative body for providers of adult social care. They aim to raise new arguments at the Court of Appeal hearing which were not considered in the original case or its appeal hearing.  Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive at Care England states; “We argue for a comprehensible, predictable, and workable interpretation of the sleep-in shift regulations that do not give rise to the potentially crippling multi-million pound consequences for the sector.”

Aspire Comment

Care England will bring a wealth of experience and legal resources to the case. It will be interesting to see the measures that Care England propose to resolve the sleep-in shift crisis. Please see our news article on the Updated National Minimum Wage Guidance and Social Care Compliance Scheme.