T H E P U B L I C AT I O N F O R N U R S I N G A N D R E S I D E N T I A L C A R E H O M E S Every Business Has An Unsung Hero
W W W. T H E C A R E R U K . C O M
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Fire Safety
Pressure Care
Pages 16-18
Page 19
SUMMER 2018
Issue 41
See Page 2 for details
Furniture Dementia Property Nurse Call Cleaning Medication Incontinence Food and Laundry and and Care and and and Management Solutions Nutrition Solutions Technology Pages 26-29 Pages 30-31 Hygiene Pages 34-35 Furnishings Training Pages 44 Professional Pages 20-25
Pages 32-33
Pages 36-39
Pages 45-47
Pages 40-43
Court of Appeal Overturns £400m Sleep-in Shift Ruling
The Court of Appeal has reversed an Employment Tribunal judgment which could have cost the care sector £400m in back pay to staff. The ruling relates to social care workers who had been paid a flat rate for shifts where they slept in a patient’s house or at a care home to provide support if necessary, known as “sleep-in shifts”. Mencap and Care England, the representative body for social care providers, went to the Court of Appeal in March to challenge an Employment Tribunal ruling, made in 2016 and upheld at appeal last year. The tribunal rulings, in favour of a sleep-in shift worker, Clare Tomlinson-Blake, found Mencap should have paid her the full minimum wage during sleep-in shifts, and would have led to charities and care providers having to pay back pay and penalties to large numbers of staff, which would cost the sector £400m and result in some organisations going bankrupt. Mencap argued that a previous tribunal decision which compelled care providers to fund six years’ back pay for overnight carers was unaffordable, adding that small-
er employers could be forced out of business by the decision. Care workers who provide care overnight used to be paid a flat fee in the region £30, since they may be sleeping during some of their shifts. However, after employment tribunal rulings involving a Mencap support worker, HM Revenue and Customs said they should be paid at least the minimum wage for every hour overnight, almost doubling the amount. The Court of Appeal ruled earlier this month that care providers had no liability for back pay. Responding to the decision, Mencap said the decision removed uncertainty around the issue and called on the government to ensure that care providers were properly funded in future. Derek Lewis, chair of Mencap, said: “The court’s decision has removed the uncertainty about how the law on the National Living Wage applies to sleep-ins. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3...)