NMWM10080 | Accommodation and accommodation offset: when is the employer regarded as being responsible for the provision of accommodation? Example 3: worker chooses not to use the accommodation

Example 3

A warden works Monday to Friday and is provided with accommodation in a flat owned by his employer. The flat is part of the old people’s home in which the warden works and is provided to the warden free of charge for 7 days a week. However, the warden has his own family home several miles away and stays in his own home at the weekends.

Comment

The employer is regarded as being responsible for the provision of the accommodation because the employer owns the accommodation (situation 1, NMWM10040). This is not affected by the fact that the worker does not use the accommodation at the weekends nor by the fact that the worker does not work at the weekends. The circumstances are such that the employer is responsible for the provision of the accommodation for a full 7 days each week.

If the employer was responsible for the provision of the accommodation to the worker but the worker lived in his family home all the time then, provided the accommodation was still made available to the worker, the employer could still be regarded as being responsible for the provision of the accommodation, even though the worker had chosen not to occupy it.