The 2021 ruling
In Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake (2021), the Supreme Court decided that time a worker is allowed to sleep during a sleep-in doesn't count towards the minimum wage. Sleep-ins are usually paid as a flat allowance.
Time awake does count
If you're woken and have to work, that time is working time and must be paid at least the minimum wage. Log each time you're woken and how long you worked.
Waking nights are different
A waking night, where you're expected to stay awake and work, is working time for every hour.
A worked example
A support worker on a sleep-in is paid a flat £55.00. They're woken twice, for 40 minutes and 50 minutes. That's 1.5 hours of working time, which must be paid at least the minimum wage: £19.07 at £12.71. Some employers pay disturbed time on top of the allowance, others count it inside. Either way, the woken time must be covered.
Log disturbances properly
- The time you were woken and the time you went back to bed
- What you did, in a word or two
- Whether you reported it on the service's own disturbance log
When a sleep-in is really a waking night
If you're woken so often that you can't really sleep, the shift may in practice be a waking night. Raise it with your manager. Your own record of disturbances is the evidence.
Keep your own record
With Shiftaan you can mark each shift paid, part-paid or disputed, and see what every employer still owes you. It's free for up to 3 companies.
Common questions
Is a sleep-in paid at minimum wage?
Not the time you're asleep. Any time you're awake and working during the sleep-in counts as working time and must be paid at least the minimum wage.
Should I report every time I'm woken?
Yes. Time woken to work is working time, and a record is the only way to make sure it's paid.