‘On call’ time is working time

A recent case ruled upon by the Employment Appeal Tribunal has reinforced an earlier ruling in 2006 that an employee who is required to be on call during the night whilst living in on-site accommodation was ‘working’ for the whole of that time for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations 1998, irrespective as to whether the employee was ‘called out’ during the night or not.  The EAT also ruled that the employee was entitled to the national minimum wage during the ‘on call’ period, except for the period when the employee was actually sleeping.