Mrs E Farrell Ms L Hutchison Mr D Mitchell v Represented by: Ms A Bowman -20 Solicitor South Lanarkshire Council — 2020

Mr Mitchell and Mr Palmer were Community Service Supervisors with South Lanarkshire Council. They brought claims under regulation 12 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and regulation 5(1) of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000. The respondent withdrew its defence to the WTR claims on 8 January 2020, so the tribunal dealt with remedy on those claims. It found that neither claimant had been given the required 20-minute rest break during shifts of more than six hours, and that no arrangements were made until March 2020, when paid 20-minute breaks were introduced through SACRO cover.

For the WTR claims, the tribunal declined to award injury to feelings, applying Santos Gomes v Higher Level Care 2018 ICR 1571. It accepted that the claimants had suffered discomfort and some distress from having to supervise clients throughout their shifts without an uninterrupted break, and considered compensation just and equitable in light of the length of the default and the respondent's failure to address the issue after it was raised. It awarded Mr Mitchell £4,835.44 and Mr Palmer £2,933.16 on the WTR claims.

On the PTWR claims, the respondent accepted that both claimants were part-time workers and that their named comparators were comparable full-time workers. The tribunal held that the treatment complained of was the denial of the compensatory rest pay received by comparators, and that this had become part of the comparators' contracts by custom and practice. It upheld Mr Mitchell's claim, finding that he was the only employee working one 8-hour shift and that the sole reason for the less favourable treatment was his part-time status; the respondent's asserted rota explanation was not supported by evidence and the treatment was not objectively justified. It dismissed Mr Palmer's claim, accepting that the reason for the different treatment was the respondent's decision that new recruits would work full contractual hours while rotas were under review, rather than his part-time status. Mr Mitchell was awarded £1,841.16 under the PTWR after account was taken of the WTR compensation already awarded, making the total monetary award £9,609.76.