Employment Law – Allowances – National Minimum Wage

Employment Law – Allowances – National Minimum Wage

In the recent case of Smith v Oxfordshire Learning Disability NHS Trust [2009], the Employment Appeals Tribunal (“EAT”) made a determination that a "Sleeping In Allowance" of £25 could not be deemed to be an "allowance" within the meaning of the National Minimum Wage Regulations.

The “Sleeping In Allowance” was paid to a care home worker each time he was required to sleep at the premises on which he was working,

This decision meant that the payments he received would be taken into consideration when his average hourly pay for national minimum wage purposes was calculated. In addition, the EAT further stated that the payments were not:

"…Attributable to the worker's performance in carrying out his work.. [within the meaning of regulation 31]”

This was due to the fact that they did not relate to the quality of the work that was performed by the care worker in question. Accordingly, in the event the “Sleeping In Allowances” were payments which fell under the meaning of "allowances", they would not count towards the payment of the national minimum wage.

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§         http://www.rtcoopers.com/practice_employment.php

§         http://www.rtcoopers.com/faq-redundancyemployee.php

§         http://www.employmentlawyersinlondon.com/video.php

§         http://www.employmentlawyersinlondon.com

§         http://www.adviceoncompromiseagreements.com .

© RT COOPERS, 2009. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances.