- McCartney v Oversley House Management
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McCartney v Oversley House Management Court Employment Appeal Tribunal Citation(s) [2006] IRLR 514 (EAT) Keywords Minimum wage McCartney v Oversley House Management [2006] IRLR 514 (EAT) is a UK labour law case regarding the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.
Contents
Facts
Mrs Macartney was a resident manager at Oversley House, which was originally built as the Alcester Poor Law Union workhouse in 1834. She needed to be within three miles of the residential home and be contactable by mobile phone. She had to respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, four days a week, in her contract. She got £8,750 pa, paid monthly, with rent free accommodation. She claimed that she had been denied proper periods of rest and rest breaks under WTR 1998 rr 10(1) and 12(1). She said she had ‘salaried hours work’ under r 4(1) and that all time on call was working time, so she was getting less than the minimum wage.
The Tribunal found she was not ‘working’ while on call because she could take rest, and so dismissed her claim. As for the minimum wage, she was said to have ‘unmeasured work’ and not salaried work, so her whole shift was not working time. She therefore got over the minimum for her 40 hour week. Mrs Macartney appealed.
Judgment
Richardson J overturned the Tribunal and held that she was employed on salary work within NMWR 1999 r 4 for the whole period, even though much was spent at home and for part of it she was asleep. Under WTR 1998 r 12(1), she was entitled to an uninterrupted rest break of 20 minutes. She worked more than six hours a day, but the kind of work did not allow for uninterruption. WTR 1998 regulation 2(1)(a) defined working time to include a worker not actually doing anything, but required to be present and remain available at a place determined by an employer. So the whole period on call, within short distance of her home was working time. So she could get daily rest period under r 10(1). Under the NMWR 1999 r 4, she had ‘salaried hours work’. So she was not paid the minimum wage.
See also
Sources on wages National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/584)Employment Act 2008 ss 8-12Edmonds v Lawson QC [2000] EWCA Civ 69James v Redcats (Brands) Ltd [2007] IRLR 296British Nursing Assn v Inland Revenue [2002] EWCA Civ 494Scottbridge Construction Ltd v Wright [2002] ScotCS 285Walton v Ind Living Organisation [2003] EWCA Civ 199McCartney v Oversley House Management [2006] IRLR 514Leisure Employment Ltd v HMRC [2007] EWCA Civ 92see Minimum wage in the United Kingdom- UK labour law
Notes
Law of the United Kingdom Common fields Constitutional law · Civil liberties · Company and insolvency law · Competition law · Labour law · Commercial law · European Union lawParallel fields Scots delict and English tort law · Scots and English contract law · Scots and English property law · Trusts · Scots and English administrative law · Scots and English criminal law · Scots and English family law · Scots and English civil procedureRelated systems English law · Northern Ireland law · Scots law · Welsh law · Law of the British Virgin Islands · Law of Australia · Law of Canada · Law of India · Law of New Zealand · Law of the United States · Anglo-Saxon law · Law of Hong Kong · Common law · Equity · English case lawUnited Kingdom law categoryCategories:- United Kingdom labour case law
- United Kingdom wages cases
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