The government's offer to settle a long-running sleepover dispute with disability support workers in the Bay of Plenty has been rejected.

The unions representing the support workers started legal action in 2007 with them seeking minimum wage pay for sleepovers.

A sleepover is when a worker stayed the night at a disabled person's house.

Unions are also seeking to have sleepover cases back-paid for work undertaken over the last six years.

The organisations have been negotiating over the past month to consider and vote on the offer, tabled in the lead-up to the case being heard in the Supreme Court on September 30.

Service and Food Workers Union national secretary John Ryall believes it's time to value the work disability support workers do by paying them the minimum wage for sleepovers.

'It's time for the government to get back to the negotiating table.

'In finding that workers should be paid the minimum wage, both the Employment Court and the Court of Appeal said the responsibilities of the workers were ‘weighty' and the benefit to the employer was significant.”

John says both courts ruled that sleepover shifts are work and should be paid at least the legal minimum wage.

'While we are confident the Supreme Court will reach the same conclusion as the other courts, we call on the government to withdraw its appeal.

'More litigation will waste more public resources.

'The government needs to uphold the Court of Appeal decision and pay these workers what they are legally entitled to.”