By Claire Mansell - 15 May 2018
When does work start and finish? It seems like an obvious
question but it can be a bit more complicated than you might first
think. For instance, should employees be paid for "pre work"
activities like meetings or changing into protective work gear?
What about after work training?
The Employment Court recently ordered electronic retailer Smith
City to pay its employees for attending a daily 15 minute informal
meeting. Employees met with management before the shop opened to
discuss sales targets, upcoming promotions, customer feedback and
company announcements. The meetings were informal and not strictly
compulsory (although employees were encouraged to attend and seen
as "slackers" if they did not). Because of the informal nature of
the meetings and because they occurred before the stores opened,
Smith City believed that it wasn't work and so they did not have to
pay their employees for attending.
The Employment Court disagreed and said that the meetings were
work and so the employees needed to be paid for their time. When
forming this view, the Employment Court looked at whether the
meetings were 'integral' to the employee's work at Smith City.
Because the meetings were entirely about Smith City's business and
allowed it to improve sales they were integral to its business.
Throughout the judgment the Court referred to other
circumstances which may also be considered work. It considered an
American case where workers at a factory who worked with toxic
substances had to put on protective equipment before and shower
after each shift. Because these activities were an indispensable
part of the job, it was work that needed to be paid for. The
Employment Court also referred to after work training and where
employees were required to stay after a shift has ended to complete
their tasks but ultimately did not make a decision on those
examples.
It pays to note that this case only affects employees who earn
wages. Salaried employees will usually have a clause in their
employment agreement which says that their salaries include
compensation for working beyond their normal agreed hours of
work.
The Smith City case will have some employers re-evaluating their
employment practices. For some employers who have been under-paying
staff, they may suddenly face an unexpected liability for unpaid
wages.
Contact our employment law specialist Claire Mansell
if you're wondering how you or your business could be affected.