Accounts, payroll and contract costing for providers supporting people in their own homes, including sleep-in and waking night shifts.
6 hours asleepTime asleep at or near the place of work does not count for the minimum wage (regulation 32(2) and the Mencap judgment).
1 hour wokenTime awake for the purposes of working counts, so the hour spent helping someone in the night is paid at the minimum wage or above.
2 hours awake on dutyHours the worker is required to be awake and working count in full. With the woken hour, that is 3 hours, or £38.13 at £12.71.
The National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, regulation 32(2), count hours when a worker is available only while they are "awake for the purposes of working", even where the worker sleeps at or near the place of work by arrangement. The Supreme Court confirmed this on 19 March 2021. A waking night is time work and every hour counts. GOV.UK's guidance adds that if suitable sleeping facilities are not provided, the minimum wage must be paid for the entire shift.
Relief and bank staff whose paid hours vary are irregular-hours workers. For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, their holiday accrues at 12.07% of the hours they work and can be paid as a 12.07% uplift each pay day (SI 2023/1426).
The government accepted on 28 October 2026 that the National Living Wage will rise from £12.71 to £13.21 on 1 April 2027, a rise of 3.9%. The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds rises from £10.85 to £11.27. Contracts with councils that run beyond April 2027 need to carry that cost.
No. The Supreme Court decided in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake [2021] UKSC 8 that time asleep on a sleep-in is not time work. Hours when the worker is awake for the purposes of working count in full. If suitable sleeping facilities are not provided, the whole shift counts.
Care and support supplied by a state-regulated provider is exempt as a welfare service. The exemption depends on the provider being regulated, so any part of a service that sits outside your CQC registration needs its VAT treatment checked.
Yes. On a waking night the worker is required to be awake and working, so every hour is time work and has to be paid at the minimum wage or above.
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