Many of us will lose an hour in bed this weekend when the clocks change.
The clocks will jump forward by one hour at 1am this Sunday (March 26) as we move from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to British Summer Time (BST).
This means, if you're awake at that time, you'll see the time on your phone automatically jump from 1am to 2am.
But what happens if you’re a night worker and you’re scheduled for a shift when the clocks go forward?
Paul Kelly, head of employment at Blacks Solicitors, said it all depends if you’re contracted to work set times, or a set number of hours.
For example, if your contract states you're required to work between set times, say 9pm to 5am, then you will work one hour less.
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“For those who are salaried, this will come with the benefit of being paid for the full shift,” explained Mr Kelly.
But if you are required to work set hours then your employer may ask you to finish later in order to make up for the one hour lost.
In this case, you would be paid your normal rate for that shift as you have worked your set number of hours.
If you are paid by the hour and finish at your scheduled time - meaning you have technically worked an hour less - you may not be paid for the hour lost.
However, it does all depend on your employer.
“We would recommend checking your contractual obligations and entitlements prior to the clocks going forward,” said Mr Kelly.
Chris Garner, managing director of employment law and HR specialist Avensure, recommended employers chat to workers sooner rather than later to avoid any misunderstandings about when someone should finish work.
"Businesses do need to be careful not to breach the contract by failing to pay a salaried employee for the contractual hours they are entitled to, even if they have worked an hour less," he said.
"It's also important to consider that an employee leaving work an hour later than usual may have difficulties with public transport.
"Bosses should get ahead by discussing the clock changes with affected staff to ensure there are no misunderstandings or potential disputes."
