EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS: Fraud and illegality
The claimant was a foreign student studying in the UK, who worked in breach of the conditions imposed as a term of his student visa. He worked longer hours than were permitted in term time. He alleged that his employers were in breach of the minimum wage. The employers took as a preliminary point that the contract was illegal. The Employment Tribunal rejected that contention.
The EAT upheld the employer’s appeal in part, holding that part of the contract was lawful and could be severed from the unlawful part. The claimant could recover with respect to the periods out of term and at other times when there were no restrictions on his hours, but he could not recover with respect to the periods during term time when he was knowingly infringing the hours requirement.
Judges:
Elias P J
Citations:
[2008] UKEAT 0397 – 08 – 2011, [2009] IRLR 128
Links:
Employment
Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.278202