Employment Law – Excessive Working Hours – Breach of Duty of Care
In the case of Mark Hone v Six Continents Retail Limited (2005), a pub landlord having collapsed due to overwork successfully sued his former employers in the County Court for breach of duty of care.
Mr Hone, the claimant, started operating for Bass (currently Six Continents) as a pub manager in 1995 and in 1998 was awarded "Pub Manager of the Year". But, in 1999 he started working at The Recent Moat House where he found himself working 13 hour days.
He repeatedly complained to his employers that he was overworked but the employers took no action. He had no assistant manager and different employees members, who left, as well as two chefs and an administrative employee, were never replaced.
Mr Hone, who had refused to sign a clause opting out of EU legislation that limits the number of hours an employee works, began stricken by headaches and insomnia. In Might 2000, he collapsed at work littered with an anxiety disorder. In 2004, Mr Hone sued Bass for breaching the duty of care owed to him as an employee.
The primary instance court ( Swansea County Court ) held that:
Bass had not taken affordable steps to make sure that Mr Hone failed to work over 48 hours, that was possible to cause injury to his health, which resources were on the market to employ additional support employees for him; and
Bass ought to pay Mr Hone £21,000 in damages.
Six Continents (formerly Bass) appealed this decision to the Court of Charm who upheld the Swansea County Court's judgment.
Comment: This case highlights the importance of not imposing excessive working hours on workers and ensuring that employees have sufficient employees support.
© RT COOPERS, 2005. This Briefing Note does not offer a comprehensive or complete statement of the law referring to the problems mentioned nor does it represent legal advice. It's intended only to focus on general issues. Specialist legal recommendation ought to continually be sought in relation to explicit circumstances.
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