What were the issues in the case?
On 19 March 2021, the Supreme Court handed down the judgment in
the long-running Mencap litigation, which concerned the calculation
of the time spent by sleep-in workers for the purposes of the
National Minimum Wage (NMW). The case concerned two appeals.
The first claimant was a care support worker who cared for two
vulnerable adults in their own home. At night, she was permitted to
sleep but had to remain at the place of work and "listen
out" for any emergencies, which were infrequent. She was paid
an allowance plus one hour's pay at the NMW rate. If her sleep
was disturbed by an emergency, she received no further pay for the
first hour, and the NMW rate for any subsequent hours. She claimed
that she should be paid the NMW on average for each hour of her
sleep-in shift. The second Claimant was an on-call night care
assistant at a residential care home. He was provided with free
accommodation at the care home and paid a fixed amount
