Reps at meetings were ‘at work’

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that a health and safety rep and shop steward at Cheshire-based glass container manufacturers Encirc were “at work” for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations when they were attending health and safety and trade union meetings.

The meetings the two Unite reps attended took place late in the afternoon, meaning they only had six and nine hours respectively between the end of the meetings and the beginning of their night shifts. They argued that under Regulation 10(1) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 they should have been given 11 hours rest between carrying out their functions as union reps, that is, attending the meetings, and beginning their respective shifts.

The employer argued that the meetings were not in “working time”. And although the employment tribunal found that the reps were “working” during the meetings, the EAT said that it had adopted a too narrow approach in deciding whether they were also “at the employer’s disposal” and “carrying out his activities or duties”.

It said that a wider approach was allowed, which could take into account activities that were for the benefit of the employer in a broader sense, such as attending a trade union or health and safety meeting.

Their claims were remitted to the employment tribunal for re-consideration, applying this broader approach to “working time”.

www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2015/0367_14_2302.html