Martin v Southern Health & Social Care Trust

“On-call” time has long been the subject of discussion in Europe. The European Court of Justice has held that on-call time constitutes working time if workers are required to be in the workplace, even if they are asleep. Recently the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal (NICA) had to consider whether a claimant should be paid for her rest breaks. This involved deciding whether the claimant was “on call” and, therefore, working during the rest breaks. Although decisions of the NICA are not binding on employment tribunals in England, Wales and Scotland, they may influence arguments. As such this case may assist in setting the boundaries of on-call time.