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Q: Our staff work for 3 hours at £5.45 per hour in the morning, and then go on home-based call-out, staying within a 20 minimum radius of their home, for the next 21 hrs. For this they receive £15.00. They then start their next three hour shift. Is this legal?

Sep 07 2006

Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question

If you require employees to be on stand-by awaiting instructions to work without notice, you are required to treat them as though they were actually working during the stand-by periods. This means the hours will be subject to minimum wage pay and the accrual of holiday entitlements. As your staff only receive £15 for the 21 hours on stand by, they are not receiving the national minimum wage for these call out periods and it is advisable to review the situation immediately.

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