Cheshire East to backdate pay for staff who didn't receive minimum wage

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Cheshire East Council has announced proposals to backdate pay for members of staff who have been underpaid and did not receive the National Minimum Wage.

Those affected are care staff who work 'sleep-in shifts', which is where an individual is required to be on duty and is considered to be 'at work' even if sleeping.

The Council's proposals to backdate pay to care staff who were not paid the minimum wage follows a legal ruling on the National Minimum Wage in May this year. The employment tribunal ruled that the charity Mencap and others had underpaid its staff by giving them a flat-rate overnight sleep-in allowance, rather than paying at or above the national minimum wage for each of those hours, even if asleep.

This ruling is currently subject to appeal, but Cheshire East Council has decided to comply with the law as it stands now following criticism from members of the Council.

The ruling typically applies to care staff sleeping-in in overnight shifts in care homes or in individuals' homes as carers. Those care staff may have been able to sleep through the night, but were available to be woken in the night and provide care as necessary.

According to the BBC, in October 2016 Senior HR Officer Sue Wallace produced a report warning that the average monthly pay of some social care staff was likely to have fallen below the minimum wage. She then lost her job in December 2016 just five days after she met with a manager who had been nominated to investigate her concerns.

Cheshire East Council has today announced that it has completed an initial assessment, reviewed its policy, and is proposing a solution moving forwards to staff trade unions and the individuals concerned.

The majority of staff the council has identified as affected over the last two years are in the Care4ce domiciliary care team, as well as a handful of other roles including some staff at Tatton Park. All affected staff will receive a letter confirming the payments due and how it was calculated as well as receiving their arrears of pay going back two years in their October salaries.

Councillor Paul Findlow, cabinet member for corporate policy and legal services said: "We have undertaken an extensive review to establish exactly who this ruling affects and how much each individual is owed. Cheshire East Council is a responsible employer – we respect and value all our employees and want to ensure that they are paid fairly for the valuable work they do."

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Cheshire East Council
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Comments

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Sue Wallace
Wednesday 27th September 2017 at 8:32 pm
Fantastic news. But still spin. Mencap judgement applies case law established 2013 & 2014, in Whittlestone & Esperon judgements..Both are referenced by the Honourable Mrs Justice Simpler DBE who heard the Mencap case. Case Law was known and shared with CEC executive leadership team in a report in 2014, 2015 and my disclosure in 2016. Mencap only landmark case as request by Mencap to Government to waive HMRC fines related to backpay owed to workers. ...Request was about ENFORCEMENT activity. It doesn't challenge the actual judgement, as referenced above, based on long established case law.