Asleep but working

A hotel worker was working even when he was asleep, the EAT has said.

William Anderson, an assistant with "guest care management responsibility", was required to sleep over at the hotel several nights a week so that he could deal with emergencies such as fire and flood. His employer claimed that this was not working time and refused to pay him for those hours.

An employment tribunal sided with the employer, but the EAT disagreed. It said Anderson had clearly been at his employer's disposal during those hours, as he was required to be there for a particular purpose. He had even been disciplined on one occasion for leaving the hotel for half an hour in the early hours of the morning.

Anderson's claim, which was brought by the T&G general union, was a contractual claim and was not brought under either the working time or minimum wage regulations, but the EAT said that cases decided under those regulations were still relevant.

Anderson v Jarvis Hotels plc EATS/0062/05