Unison has won permission to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision in the Mencap case (Focus Care Agency Ltd v Roberts, Frudd and another v The Partington Group Ltd and Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake) to the Supreme Court.
It's likely that the Supreme Court will hear the case any time from October 2019 to March 2020. The parties to the case now have up to 16 weeks to put forward their time estimate (though they are encouraged to submit their estimate before this deadline if possible). Cases are currently listed for hearing approximately 6 to 12 months after that.
In the meantime, it's worth noting that the law still stands and currently employees undergoing sleep-in shifts are only entitled to the NMW when they are awake and carrying out duties. As far as employee relations are concerned, the message to relay is that this remains the position unless the Supreme Court decides differently.
For further information please refer to our recent newsflash: 'Mencap will go to the Supreme Court!'.
This article is taken from HR Law - March 2019.
