Night shift rules in the UK
A night shift is whatever the rota says it is until the hours fall inside the legal night. The nickname does not matter. The clock does.
Who is a night worker
Night time is 11pm to 6am unless an agreement sets a different window of at least seven hours that includes midnight to 5am. A night worker regularly works at least three hours of their daily working time in that window. A permanent 10pm to 6am line qualifies. One overnight to cover a holiday does not, by itself, make someone a night worker. Regularly is the word to test.
Their normal hours must not exceed an average of eight hours in any 24-hour period. Offer a free health assessment before they start night work, and at regular intervals after that. Young workers should not ordinarily work at night. None of this is a higher National Minimum Wage. GOV.UK says the minimum wage applies to night workers and that there is not a higher night working rate.
The allowance is the contract
A night shift allowance is extra pay you agreed, or it is nothing. There is no statutory percentage. If you pay one, it can count towards the minimum wage for the pay reference period, and a premium that is simply how those shifts are always paid can belong in holiday pay. Shiftbrook does not store a rate. The hours go on the rota with their real start and end. An end earlier than the start is an overnight when you measure the length. Payroll applies the allowance, if there is one, to the approved hours.
A sleep-in is a different night. The person is expected to sleep for most of the shift and is woken for tasks. Where suitable sleeping facilities exist, the minimum wage is due for time they are awake for the purposes of working, not for the time they are asleep. A picker, a nurse on a working night, or a closer who is awake for the job is not in that exception. The on-call entry keeps the two apart.
Rest still joins the shifts
Eleven hours between an adult’s working days still applies when one of them is a night. A finish at 6am and a start at noon is short. The warning on save will say so and will not delete the shift. The graveyard shift entry is the planning name. This post is the rule. The night working hours page on GOV.UK is the source to check when the agreement tries to move the night window.