Employment Law - Excessive Working Hours - Breach of Duty of Care
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009In the case of Mark Hone v Six Continents Retail Limited (2005), a pub landlord having collapsed due to overwork successfully sued his former employers within the County Court for breach of duty of care.
Mr Hone, the claimant, started working for Bass (currently Six Continents) as a pub manager in 1995 and in 1998 was awarded “Pub Manager of the Year”. However, in 1999 he started operating at The Old Moat House where he found himself operating 13 hour days.
He repeatedly complained to his employers that he was overworked however the employers took no action. He had no assistant manager and different staff members, who left, including 2 chefs and an administrative worker, were never replaced.
Mr Hone, who had refused to sign a clause opting out of EU legislation that limits the amount of hours an employee works, began plagued by headaches and insomnia. In Might 2000, he collapsed at work laid low with an anxiety disorder. In 2004, Mr Hone sued Bass for breaching the duty of care owed to him as an employee.
The first instance court ( Swansea County Court ) held that:
Bass had not taken cheap steps to ensure that Mr Hone did not work over 48 hours, which was probably to cause injury to his health, and that resources were out there to employ additional support employees for him; and
Bass ought to pay Mr Hone £twenty one,000 in damages.
Six Continents (formerly Bass) appealed this call to the Court of Appeal 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 workers have sufficient workers support.
© RT COOPERS, 2005. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law referring to the issues discussed nor will it represent legal advice. It’s supposed solely to focus on general issues. Specialist legal recommendation ought to continually be sought in relation to explicit circumstances.
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