Sleeping at work

A hotel worker was working even when he was asleep, because he was required to remain on the hotel premises.

The facts

Hotel worker William Anderson 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.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that Anderson was entitled to be paid for those hours. It was clear that he was at his employer’s disposal during that time, as he was required to be there for a particular purpose. He had even been disciplined on one occasion for leaving the premises for half an hour in the early hours of the morning.

Although this was a contractual claim, the EAT considered that cases decided under the working time and minimum wage regulations were still relevant.

Anderson v Jarvis Hotels plc EATS/0062/05