Buddy says:Yes, time during which an employee is contractually obliged to be present at their place of work is working time, and therefore the employee is entitled to be paid in respect of it.

Employer information:In the recent case of in Anderson v Jarvis Hotels, a hotel night manager brought a claim for unpaid contractual wages in respect of a nine month period when he was required to sleep at the hotel overnight. He was required on site in case of an emergency (such as fire or flood). The hotel attempted to argue that 'on call' time, where the risk of actually being required to do something was insignificant, should not be regarded as working time for the purpose of being paid under the contract of employment.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal disagreed with this reasoning and held that time during which the hotel night manager was contractually obliged to be present at the hotel was plainly working time, and he was entitled to be paid in respect of it. Therefore the hotel night manager was entitled to be paid for work even when asleep!

Note - this claim was brought on contractual grounds, not under the Working Time Regulations 1998