EAT Working Time Regulations – WHETHER ON CALL WAS AT WORK
Ambulance paramedics sometimes worked on-call night shift duty away from their home base station. On such occasions, they were required to take accommodation within a 3 mile radius of the distant ambulance station, at which they were to park the ambulance. They were to meet a target time of three minutes within which to respond to a call. An ET held, applying what it thought to be the close analogy between the facts of this case and those considered by the ECJ in SIMAP, that whilst on call under this regime the Claimants were at rest. This was reversed on appeal, since it was clear that the time of the claimants was not their own whilst on this duty. The ET had not defined the principle it was to employ. Had it done so it would have had central regard to Jaeger. The central question was whether the employees were on the facts required to be present at a place determined by the employer. They had to be where they were, within narrow limits. They could not be at home. Therefore they could not enjoy the quality of rest which they were entitled to have under the Working Time Regulations.
Langstaff J P
[2014] UKEAT 0053 – 13 – 0804
Bailii
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.535548