EAT Working Time Regulations.Annual leave of offshore workers. Whether employers had given regulation 15 notices. Whether annual leave could be taken out of onshore ‘field breaks’.Appeal allowed and claims under regulation 30 of WTR dismissed. Regulation 15 notices had been given by employers in response to requests for annual leave and annual leave could be … Continue reading Craig and Others v Transocean International Resources Ltd: EAT 16 Dec 2008
The employers used a system of ‘rolled up’ holiday pay, so that staff received a sum equivalent to holiday pay throughout the year. Held: Such a system was not in accordance with the Working Time Directive. The directive required that there should be a specific payment for a particular period during which a worker took … Continue reading Robinson-Steele v RD Retail Services Ltd; Clarke v Frank Staddon Ltd and similar: ECJ 16 Mar 2006
ECJ A benefit such as the child-raising allowance, which is automatically granted to persons fulfilling certain objective criteria, without any individual and discretionary assessment of personal needs, and which is intended to meet family expenses, falls within the scope ratione materiae of Community law as a family benefit within the meaning of Article 4(1)(h) of … Continue reading Martinez Sala v Freistaat Bayern: ECJ 12 May 1998
ECJ Social policy – Men and women – Equal pay – Membership of an occupational pension scheme – Part-time workers – Exclusion – National procedural rules – Principle of effectiveness – Principle of equivalence. Citations: [2001] 2 AC 415, C-78/98, [2000] IRLR 06, [2000] EUECJ C-78/98 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: European Citing: Reference From – Preston … Continue reading Preston and Others v Wolverhampton Healthcare NHS Trust and Others; Fletcher and Others v Midland Bank plc: ECJ 16 May 2000
‘Employment’ in context of a sex discrimination claim referred to a current employment contract even in context of there having been a series of repeated contracts of employment. The question was referred to the European Court of Justice. Judges: Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Goff of Chieveley Lord Nolan Lord Hope of Craighead Lord Clyde … Continue reading Preston and Others v Wolverhampton Healthcare NHS and Others; Fletcher and Others v Midland Bank Plc: HL 26 Feb 1998
The claimants, Uber taxi service contractors, claimed to be ‘workers’ with associated employment rights. Held: They were such. [2016] EW Misc B68 (ET) Bailii, Reasons Employment Rights Act 1996 230(3)(b), Working Time Regulations 1998 36(1), National Minimum Wage Act 1998 England and Wales Employment Updated: 25 January 2022; Ref: scu.571017
EAT Working Time Regulations – The Employment Judge did not err either in a domestic or a European law construction of Working Time Regulations 1998 Regulation 30(4) in holding that the Claimant was not entitled to recover compensation for injury to feelings for a breach by the employer of the requirement under Regulation 12(1) to … Continue reading Gomes v Higher Level Care Ltd: EAT 18 May 2016
ECJ (Opinion) Working conditions – Organisation of working time – Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC – Right to paid annual leave – Extent of the obligations provided for by that directive in respect of the nature and level of paid annual leave – Discretion available to the Member States in laying down precise rules governing … Continue reading Williams And Others v British Airways Plc: ECJ 16 Jun 2011
EAT WORKING TIME REGULATIONS – Holiday pay Mr Lock was at the material time employed by British Gas as a salesman. His remuneration package included a basic salary plus commission which was based on the number and type of contracts he persuaded customers to enter into; in other words it was results-based commission and did … Continue reading British Gas Trading Ltd v Lock and Another (Working Time Regulations : Holiday Pay): EAT 22 Feb 2016
The twelve applicants had been unfairly dismissed by the transferor immediately before the transfer, and for a reason connected with the transfer under section 8(1). The question was whether the liability for unfair dismissal compensation transferred to the transferee. Held: It is the duty of a UK court to construe a statute, so far as … Continue reading Litster and Others v Forth Dry Dock and Engineering Co Ltd: HL 16 Mar 1989
The claimant challenged as incompatible with EU law, the Regulations which restricted the entitlement to state pension credit to those entitled to reside in the UK. Held: The appeal failed (Majority). The conditions imposed by the Regulations were indirectly discriminatory. There was not an exact correspondence between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups and the protected … Continue reading Patmalniece v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 16 Mar 2011
The applicants had been imprisoned and held without trial, being suspected of international terrorism. No criminal charges were intended to be brought. They were foreigners and free to return home if they wished, but feared for their lives if they did. A British subject, who was suspected in the exact same way, and there were … Continue reading A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, and X v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 16 Dec 2004
The Employment Tribunal correctly held that the Claimant’s claim under Regulation 16, Working Time Regulations 1998 (‘WTR’) was presented out of time, as the time for doing so ran from the date when he contended payment ought to have been made (5 . .
EAT Working Time Regulations 1998 – rest breaks – Regulations 12(1) and 30(1) – Prior to July 2012, the Claimant had an eight and a half hour working day, paid for eight hours, with the intention that he take a . .
The applicants worked under an arrangement where they received considerable payments additional to their basic pay for compulsory overtime, but the holiday pay was calculated by the employer on the basic pay. Held: The 1998 Regulations were intended to protect workers, but the directive did not require any payment over and above the contractual entitlement. … Continue reading D Bamsey and others v Albon Engineering and Manufacturing Plc: CA 25 Mar 2004
EAT The Tribunal was asked whether the claimant was a worker within the meaning of the Regulations and so entitled to their protection in receiving holiday pay.
Held: The appropriate classification of a . .
ECJ Social policy – Directive 92/85/EEC – Protection of the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding – Articles 5(2) and 11(1) – Worker temporarily transferred to another job during her pregnancy – Compulsory transfer because of a risk to her safety or health … Continue reading Parviainen v Finnair Oyj: ECJ 1 Jul 2010
The claimant had come from France to England, and worked as a teaching assistant. She set out on a course to train as a teacher but became pregnant, gave up the course, and eventually gave up work temporarily. Her claim to Income Support was refused on the basis that she was not a ‘worker’, and … Continue reading Prix v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 31 Oct 2012
What hours does a sleep in care worker have to be paid for. Held: Sleepers-in are to be characterised for the purpose of the Regulations as available for work, within the meaning of regulation 15 (1)/32, rather than actually working, within the meaning of regulation 3/30, and so fall within the terms of the sleep-in … Continue reading Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake: CA 13 Jul 2018
EAT NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE Temporary pub manager required to sleep on premises – Claim that hours in question should be taken into account in assessing whether she had been paid the national minimum wage – Tribunal, approaching the issue by reference to the definition of ‘working time’ in Working Time Regulations 1998, held that they … Continue reading Wray v JW Lees and Co (Brewers) Ltd: EAT 14 Jul 2011
VICTIMISATION DICRIMINATION – Protected disclosure The Claimant alleged in her Particulars of Claim that the Respondent subjected her to a detriment because she had alleged in an email of 1 December 2015 that asking her to work certain hours would be a breach of the Working Time Regulations 1998. A list of issues agreed at … Continue reading Saha v Capita Plc: EAT 29 Nov 2018
Conjoined appeals were considered on the issue of whether holiday pay arrangements met the requirements of the Working Time Regulations, where holiday pay was in some was rolled up with normal pay. Held: Five categories were identified. Those were silent as to holiday pay; contracts excluding entitlement; contracts where holiday pay was included within standard … Continue reading Marshalls Clay Products Ltd Pearce Clarke, Sutton, Hoy v Caulfield and others, Huw Howatson Ltd Frank Studdon Ltd, Potting Constuction Ltd, Hanlin Construction: EAT 25 Jun 2003
The court was asked as to the compatibility of provisions in the 1978 Act with the human rights of the appellant. The claimants, Moroccan nationals were employed as domestic staff in embassies in London. They alleged both race discrimination and breach of the 1998 Regulations, saying that the statutory exemption of the Embassies from liability … Continue reading Benkharbouche v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: SC 18 Oct 2017
ECJ The principle that men and women should receive equal pay, which is laid down by article 119, is one of the foundations of the community. It may be relied on before the national courts. These courts have a duty to ensure the protection of the rights which that provision vests in individuals, in particular … Continue reading Defrenne v Sabena (No 2): ECJ 8 Apr 1976
The court was asked as to the calculation of annual leave pay for crew members in civil aviation under the Regulations. The company argued that it was based on the fixed annual remuneration, and the pilots argued that it should include other elements of pay. Held: The position was not acte claire, and the case … Continue reading British Airways Plc v Williams and Others: SC 24 Mar 2010
Uber drivers are workers The claimant Uber drivers sought the status of workers, allowing them to claim the associated statutory employment benefits. The company now appealed from a finding that they were workers. Held: The appeal failed (Underhill LJ dissenting) The drivers accepted the control of tee Uber app: ‘Even if drivers are not obliged … Continue reading Uber Bv and Others v Aslam and Others: CA 19 Dec 2018
The parties disputed whether Mr Smith had been an employee of or worker with the company so as to bring associated rights into play. The contract required the worker to provide an alternate worker to cover if necessary. Held: The company’s appeal failed. Mr Smith was a worker: ‘there were features of the contract which … Continue reading Pimlico Plumbers Ltd and Another v Smith: SC 13 Jun 2018
Mrs. Nessa arrived at Heathrow aged 55 having lived all her life in Bangladesh. Her husband, Mr. Mobarak Ali, had lived in the United Kingdom from 1962 until he died in 1975 and when she arrived here, Mrs. Nessa had a right of abode. She hoped to live with her husband’s brother. Her three children, … Continue reading Nessa v Chief Adjudication Officer: HL 3 Nov 1999
EAT The claimants were offshore workers the vast majority of whom were employed to work on installations situated on or over the UK Continental Shelf (‘UKCS’). They presented applications to the Employment Tribunal in which they claimed that their employers were in breach of the Working Time Regulations 1998 in relation to their rights to … Continue reading Transocean International Resources Ltd and others v Russell and others: EAT 4 Oct 2006
The claimant was injured working for the defendants on a semi-submersible platform. He fell from a ladder which was not secured properly. He alleged a breach of the Regulations. The defendant denied any breach and asserted that the claimant had contributed to the accident by his negligence. Held: The employee’s appeal succeeded. The aim in … Continue reading Robb v Salamis (M and I) Ltd: HL 13 Dec 2006
The claimant had dual Irish and US nationality. He therefore also was a citizen of the EU. He complained that the British rules against payment of job seekers’ allowance were discriminatory. The matter had already been to the ECJ. Held: The residence test as applied was not in contravention of EU law. ‘[T]he proper interpretation … Continue reading Collins v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 4 Apr 2006
The court considered the calculation of hours under the Regulations when the employee was on extended sickness leave of absence. Held: Once an employee had exhausted their sick pay entitlement, it was not open to them in addition then to claim holiday pay in respect of the period for which he had been absent from … Continue reading Inland Revenue v Ainsworth and others: CA 22 Apr 2005
ECJ Opinion – Directive 97/81/EC – Directive 76/207/EEC – Social policy – Equal treatment as between part-time and full-time workers – Equal treatment as between male and female workers – Working hours and organisation of working-time.A part-time worker was engaged under a framework contract of employment which lasted in the event from October 1998 to … Continue reading Wippel v Peek and Cloppenburg GmbH and Co. KG: ECJ 12 Oct 2004
Mrs Nolan had been employed at a US airbase. When it closed, and she was made redundant, she complained that the appellant had not consulted properly on the redundancies. The US denied that it had responsibility to consult, and now appealed. Held: The appeal failed (Lord Carnworth dissenting). That the exact situation might not have … Continue reading The United States of America v Nolan: SC 21 Oct 2015
The defendant appealed against the strike out of parts of its defence. The claimant was employed as the mosque director and imam. He had brought an action in the Industrial Tribunal alleging wrongful dismissal, but notifying the defendants that any excess above what the tribunal could order would be sought in the current action. That … Continue reading Sajid v Sussex Muslim Society: CA 2 Oct 2001
The claimant Reynolds challenged the differential treatment by age of jobseeker’s allowance. Carson complained that as a foreign resident pensioner, her benefits had not been uprated. The questions in each case were whether the benefit affected a ‘possession’ within the Convention or the discrimination was arbitrary so as to breach the applicants human rights. Held: … Continue reading Carson and Reynolds v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 17 Jun 2003
The employer and employees disagreed about whether an element of holiday pay had been included in the rate of pay. Held: There had to be an explicit agreement between the parties before this could happen. It was not for one side unilaterally to impose its own understanding of the contract. The regulations referred to ‘contractual’ … Continue reading Gridquest Ltd T/A Select Employment, Piper Group Plc, XR Associates Ltd v K A Blackburn etc: CA 23 Jul 2002
The provisions of the Directive, which excluded from regulation the employment of transport workers, applied to office workers as well as to actual drivers. The phrases used by the Directive in disapplying the Directive to certain employment sectors, made a distinction between those employed in certain industries, and, in other cases, those with certain jobs. … Continue reading Bowden and Others v Tuffnells Parcels Express Ltd: ECJ 4 Oct 2001
A directive limiting the maximum work hours for all employees was validly made under art 118a as a Health and Safety measure. LMA Measures appear initially to have derived from policies of job creation and increased employment. John Major’s government saw the initiatives (together with other provisions as part of Social Chapter) as measures which … Continue reading United Kingdom v Council of the European Union: ECJ 12 Nov 1996
Citations: [1997] EWCA Civ 1013 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: See Also – Fletcher and others and Preston and others v Midland Bank Plc and Wolverhampton Healthcare NHS Trust Secretary of State for Health and others EAT 24-Jun-1996 EAT Equal Pay Act – Addendum to principal judgment. Part timers’ claims for membership of pension schemes … Continue reading Preston and others v Wolverhampton Healthcare Trust Secretary of State for Health: CA 13 Feb 1997
The Secretary of State’s decision on the grant of a Telecommunications licence was challengeable by Summons and not by Judicial Review. A dispute between Mercury and BT as to charges as set by the Director General is a private not a public dispute. The purpose of the rule of procedural exclusivity was stated to be … Continue reading Mercury Communications Ltd v Director General of Telecommunications and Another: HL 10 Feb 1995
The claimants worked for Rotaprint when it went into receivership in 1988, and then for the receiver before being transferred to Pan Graphics. Statutory redundany payments were made on the receivership of Rotaprint. The claimants sought further redundancy payment on the insolvency of Rotaprint. The Secretary now appealed the decision of the EAT that payments … Continue reading Lassman and Others v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: CA 19 Apr 2000
Doctors working in primary health care teams are subject to the Working Time Directive. They are not to be assimilated as public service workers alongside emergency services. All time on call was working time and overtime if present at a health centre, but if merely contactable then the rules applied to the time actually spent. … Continue reading Sindicato de Medicos de Asistancia Publica (SIMAP) v Colsilieria de Sanidad y Consumo de la Generalidad Valenciana: ECJ 3 Oct 2000
A claim had been made for mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos, but the claim arose in Guernsey. Acknowledging the acute difficultis particular to the evidence in such cases, the House of Lords, in Fairchild. had introduced the Special Rule at common law as to such evidence. In the UK, the 2006 Act had amended the … Continue reading Zurich Insurance Plc UK Branch v International Energy Group Ltd: SC 20 May 2015
The High Court had found the plaintiff to be a charity, and ordered the Attorney-General to be joined in. The A-G appealed that order saying that the plaintiff was not a charity within the 1993 Act. The charity sought to spread the Vaishnava religion in London. Held: Charities Act jurisdiction is restricted to charities registered … Continue reading Gaudiya Mission and others v Brahmachary: CA 30 Jul 1997
Former KGB officers had been banned from employment in a range of public and private sector jobs, including as lawyers, notaries, bank employees and in the teaching profession. They complained of infringement of Article 8 taken alone and also in conjunction with Article 14. The Government submitted that Article 8 was not applicable as it … Continue reading Sidabras and Dziautas v Lithuania: ECHR 27 Jul 2004
The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human Rights Act since it deprived the respondent lender of its property rights. It was also argued that it was not possible to make a declaration … Continue reading Wilson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2): HL 10 Jul 2003
The respondents appealed a finding that they were not due to make additional holiday pay under the regulations. The employer asserted that the hourly rate of pay included a rolled up element of holiday and sick pay. The employee asserted that the contract documentation made no mention of such an arrangement. The employers claimed that … Continue reading Gridquest Ltd T/A Select Employment, Piper Group Plc, XR Associates Ltd v Blackburn etc: EAT 1 Nov 2000
The applicant had worked as a waitress for the company, working as they requested, and also at her own option. She claimed the right to paid leave under the working time regulations. The tribunal found that she had been continuously employed for 13 weeks. The regulations required that the relationship be governed by a contract … Continue reading Voteforce Associates Ltd v K Quinn: EAT 30 Jul 2001
It was for the defenders to say what steps they had been taken to comply with their obligations under the Regulations, not for an employee complainant to say what should happen. Citations: Times 20-Nov-1997, [1998] SLT 1323 Statutes: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 (SI 1988 No 1657) Jurisdiction: Scotland Cited by: Cited … Continue reading Bilton v Fastnet Highlands LTd: OHCS 20 Nov 1997
The claimant appealed after her claim for sex discrimination had failed. She had been dismissed from her position an associate minister of the church. The court had found that it had no jurisdiction, saying that her appointment was not an employment. However the jurisdiction in sex discrimination cases was wider, extending to those who ‘contract … Continue reading Percy v Church of Scotland Board of National Mission: HL 15 Dec 2005
The claimant said that the defendant bookmakers had been negligent in allowing him to continue betting when they should have known that he was acting under an addiction. The defendant company had a policy for achieving responsible gambling, including procedures for self-exclusion. The claimant had of his own choice previously closed accounts at other bookmakers, … Continue reading Calvert v William Hill Credit Ltd: ChD 12 Mar 2008
Statutory Duty Not Extended by Common Law The claimant sought damages after a road accident. The driver came over the crest of a hill and hit a bus. The road was not marked with any warning as to the need to slow down. Held: The claim failed. The duty could not be extended to include … Continue reading Gorringe v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council: HL 1 Apr 2004
The claimant sought to assert that he as a minister of the Methodist Church who had been received into full connection had a contract of employment with the church. Having that contract, he said hat he had been unfairly dismissed. Held: A binding contract of service might be made between a minister and his church, … Continue reading President of the Methodist Conference v Parfitt: CA 1 Oct 1983
EAT WORKING TIME REGULATIONS The Claimant/Appellant was a railway signalman working on single manned boxes on eight-hour shifts. He had no rostered breaks but was expected to take breaks when there were naturally occurring breaks in work whilst remaining ‘on call’. Although none of the individual breaks lasted 20 minutes, in aggregate they lasted substantially … Continue reading Crawford v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd: EAT 8 Nov 2017
Smartphone App Contractors did so as Workers The court was asked whether the employment tribunal was entitled to find that drivers whose work was arranged through Uber’s smartphone application work for Uber under workers’ contracts and so qualify for the national minimum wage, paid annual leave and other workers’ rights; or whether, as Uber contended, … Continue reading Uber Bv and Others v Aslam and Others: SC 19 Feb 2021
The appellants said they had been had been discriminated against on the grounds of their sex by the TUPE Regulations. Their discrimination cases had been dismissed as out of time. Held: The employees’ appeals were dismissed: ‘A statute cannot speak with two different voices at one and the same time. The rule that section 2(4) … Continue reading Powerhouse Retail Ltd and others v Burroughs and others; Preston and others v Wolverhampton Healthcare NHS Trust and others (No 3): HL 8 Mar 2006
The court was asked whether it was lawful for the Secretary of State to make subordinate legislation imposing a cap on the amount of welfare benefits which can be received by claimants in non-working households, equivalent to the net median earnings of working households. The challenge was under the 1998 Act on the basis that … Continue reading SG and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 18 Mar 2015
Standing to Claim under A1P1 ECHR The appellants had written employers’ liability insurance policies. They appealed against rejection of their challenge to the 2009 Act which provided that asymptomatic pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis should constitute actionable harm for the purposes of an action of damages for personal injury. Held: The insurers’ appeals failed. … Continue reading AXA General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others: SC 12 Oct 2011
Widowers claimed that, in denying them benefits which would have been payable to widows, the Secretary of State had acted incompatibly with their rights under article 14 read with article 1 of Protocol 1 and article 8 of the ECHR. Held: The Secretary’s appeal succeeded. Section 6 of the 1998 Act permitted the discrimination as … Continue reading Hooper and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 5 May 2005
Several lone parents challenged the benefits cap, saying that it was discriminatory. Held: (Hale, Kerr LL dissenting) The parents’ appeals failed. The legislation had a clear impact on lone parents and their children. The intention was to encourage claimants back into work. It was said that thus contradicted the other policy of providing no free … Continue reading DA and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 15 May 2019
EAT (Practice and Procedure : Appellate Jurisdiction/Reasons/Burns-Barke) JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Worker, employee or neither The Claimant was an interpreter, who from 2007 provided services directly to Police and Courts. Then the authorities engaged interpreters through intermediaries – initially ALS, then Capita. The Claimant had no contract with the end-users of her services. She claimed holiday … Continue reading Chet v Capita Translation and Interpreting Ltd: EAT 24 Jul 2015
The claimant sought to challenge the validity of the 2009 Act by judicial review. The Act would make their insured and themselves liable to very substantial unanticipated claims for damages for pleural plaques which would not previousl or otherwise have amounted to personal injury. Pleural plaques are physical changes in the pleura, detectable radiologically as … Continue reading AXA General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others: SCS 8 Jan 2010
A prison policy requiring prisoners not to be present when their property was searched and their mail was examined was unlawful. The policy had been introduced after failures in search procedures where officers had been intimidated by the presence of prisoners. Particularly when examining documents subject to legal professional privilege, the rules did not allow … Continue reading Regina (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 23 May 2001
The bank challenged measures taken by HM Treasury to restrict access to the United Kingdom’s financial markets by a major Iranian commercial bank, Bank Mellat, on the account of its alleged connection with Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. The bank sought to have the direction given under section 7 of the 2008 Act. … Continue reading Bank Mellat v Her Majesty’s Treasury (No 2): SC 19 Jun 2013
Interim Injunctions in Patents Cases The plaintiffs brought proceedings for infringement of their patent. The proceedings were defended. The plaintiffs obtained an interim injunction to prevent the defendants infringing their patent, but they now appealed its discharge by the Court of Appeal. Held: The questions which applied when looking for an interim injunction in patent … Continue reading American Cyanamid Co v Ethicon Ltd: HL 5 Feb 1975
EAT PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Time for appealingWORKING TIME REGULATIONS – Worker1. Where an Employment Tribunal has given Judgment in 2 or more tranches, a copy of the written record of the Judgment of the Employment Tribunal which is subject to appeal and the written reasons for the Judgment, or an explanation as to why … Continue reading Yorkshire Window Company Ltd v Parkes: EAT 27 May 2010
Discrimination – History of interactions relevant When a tribunal considered whether the motive for an act was discriminatory, it should look not just at the act, but should make allowance for earlier acts which might throw more light on the act in question. The Tribunal should assess the totality of the evidence on any material … Continue reading Dr Anya v University of Oxford and Another: CA 22 Mar 2001
The appellant had worked as a part time judge. He now said that he should be entitled to a judicial pension on retirement by means of the Framework Directive. The Regulations disapplied the provisions protecting part time workers for judicial office holders paid on a daily fee-paid basis. Held: The matter required to be referred … Continue reading O’Brien v Ministry of Justice: SC 28 Jul 2010
The company appealed against an adverse finding on its holiday pay payments to its pilots, saying that the pay was subject to the 2004 Regulations alone. The Directive suggested that holiday pay should be at normal average rates of pay, but the actual pay excluded bonus rates. The company said that the special regulations applicable … Continue reading British Airways Plc v Williams and Others: CA 3 Apr 2009
Exercise of Prerogative Power is Reviewable The House considered an executive decision made pursuant to powers conferred by a prerogative order. The Minister had ordered employees at GCHQ not to be members of trades unions. Held: The exercise of a prerogative power of a public nature may be, subject to constraints of national security and … Continue reading Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service: HL 22 Nov 1984
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy. Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law because it is the antithesis of fairness. It brings the law … Continue reading Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza: HL 21 Jun 2004
The claimants, airline pilots, and the company disputed the application of the 1998 Regulations to their employment. They sought pay for their annual leave made up of three elements: a proportionate part of the fixed annual sum paid for their services, a supplementary payment which varied according to the time spent flying, and thirdly an … Continue reading British Airways Plc v Williams and Others: SC 17 Oct 2012
Japanese Knotweed escape is nuisance The defendant appealed against an order as to its liability in private nuisance for the escape of Japanese Knotweed from its land onto the land of the claimant neighbours. No physical damage to properties had yet been shown, but the reduction in value which had occurred. Held: The decision of … Continue reading Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Williams and Another: CA 3 Jul 2018
The appellants were teachers in Christian schools who said that the blanket ban on corporal punishment interfered with their religious freedom. They saw moderate physical discipline as an essential part of educating children in a Christian manner. Held: The appeal was dismissed. For Article 9 to be engaged (aside from certain other threshold conditions) the … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for Education and Employment and others ex parte Williamson and others: HL 24 Feb 2005
The claimant entered the UK as a student coming from Poland. She then worked as a kitchen maid, but having left that job on becoming a mother was refused income support. She later returned to work. She said that the rules which denied her benefit were inconsistent with articles 12 (discrimination on the grounds of … Continue reading Kaczmarek v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 27 Nov 2008
The defendant was convicted for proselytism contrary to Greek law. He claimed a breach of Article 9. Held: To say that Jehovah’s Witness were proselytising criminally was excessive. Punishment for proselytising was unlawful in the circumstances of this case: ‘Bearing witness in words and deeds is bound up with the existence of religious convictions’ and … Continue reading Kokkinakis v Greece: ECHR 25 May 1993
EAT WORKING TIME REGULATIONS: HOLIDAY PAY – DAMAGES FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT – UNLAWFUL DEDUCTION FROM WAGES The EAT held that Article 7 of the Working Time Directive is to be interpreted such that payments for overtime which the employees in two appeals before it were required to work, though which their employer was not … Continue reading Bear Scotland Limited v Fulton, and similar: EAT 4 Nov 2014
The applicant, a non-profit company who campaigned against animal cruelty, sought a declaration of incompatibility for section 321(2) of the 2003 Act, which prevented adverts with political purposes, as an unjustified restraint on the right of political expression. Held: Though the regulation was an interference in the claimant’s right of free expression, it was prescribed … Continue reading Animal Defenders International, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport: HL 12 Mar 2008
The claimant sought equal pay with other, male, warehouse operatives who were doing work of equal value but for more money. The Court of Appeal had held that since other men were also employed on the same terms both as to pay and work, her claim failed. Held: The claim was not disbarred in this … Continue reading Pickstone v Freemans Plc: HL 30 Jun 1988
There are no degrees of nullity The plaintiffs had owned mining property in Egypt. Their interests were damaged and or sequestrated and they sought compensation from the Respondent Commission. The plaintiffs brought an action for the declaration rejecting their claims was a nullity. The Commission replied that the courts were precluded from considering the question … Continue reading Anisminic Ltd v Foreign Compensation Commission: HL 17 Dec 1968
Concepts of working time and rest period – On Call ECJ Reference for a preliminary ruling: Landesarbeitsgericht Schleswig-Holstein – Germany. Social policy – Protection of the safety and health of workers – Directive 93/104/EC – Concepts of working time and rest period – On-call service (Bereitschaftsdienst) provided by doctors in hospitals. Social policy – Protection … Continue reading Landeshauptstadt Kiel v Norbert Jaeger: ECJ 9 Sep 2003
The Court was asked as to: ‘the liability for Value Added Tax of a company which markets and arranges holiday accommodation through an on-line website. The outcome turns on the appropriate characterisation of the relationship between the company, the operators of the hotels, and the holiday-makers or their travel agents (which is an English law … Continue reading Revenue and Customs v Secret Hotels2 Ltd: SC 5 Mar 2014
Account taken of circumstances wihout ambiguity The respondent gave advice on home income plans. The individual claimants had assigned their initial claims to the scheme, but later sought also to have their mortgages in favour of the respondent set aside. Held: Investors having once assigned their causes of action to the ICS, could not later … Continue reading Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society: HL 19 Jun 1997
Discrimination – Shifting Burden of Proof (Preliminary Ruling) A woman was employed as a speech therapist by the health authority. She complained of sex discrimination saying that at her level of seniority within the NHS, members of her profession which was overwhelmingly a female profession, were appreciably less well paid than members of comparable professions … Continue reading Enderby v Frenchay Health Authority and Another: ECJ 27 Oct 1993
The claimants suffered mesothelioma after contact with asbestos while at work. Their employers pointed to several employments which might have given rise to the condition, saying it could not be clear which particular employment gave rise to the condition. The claimants appealed dismissal of their claim. Held: It is for a claimant to prove that … Continue reading Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd and Others: HL 20 Jun 2002
EAT WORKING TIME REGULATIONS: WorkerIn determining whether the Claimant was a worker within the meaning of the Working Time Regulations 1998, the Employment Judge erred in taking into account whether the Claimant actually performed work or services personally rather than determining the issue by reference to the terms of the substitution clause. The substitution clause … Continue reading Archer-Hoblin Contractors Ltd v MacGettigan: EAT 3 Jul 2009
Court of Appeal must follow Own Decisions The claimant was injured and received compensation. He then sought to recover again, alleging breach of statutory duty by his employers. Held: The Court of Appeal was in general bound to follow its own previous decisions. The court considered the circumstances in which it could depart from a … Continue reading Young v The Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd: CA 28 Jul 1944
The pursuer sought damages after her husband’s death from lung cancer. She said that the defenders were negligent in having continued to sell him cigarettes knowing that they would cause this. Held: The action failed. The plaintiff had not proved that the smoking of cigarettes was the cause of the lung cancer, and it was … Continue reading McTear v Imperial Tobacco Ltd: OHCS 31 May 2005
The Court considered appeals where defendants challenged the factual basis of findings that they had contributed to the causes of the claimant’s Mesothelioma, and in particular to what extent a court can satisfactorily base conclusions of fact on epidemiological evidence. The defendants in each case argued that the Fairchild exception should not have been applied … Continue reading Sienkiewicz v Greif (UK) Ltd; Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willmore: SC 9 Mar 2011
The plaintiff was injured by a prodigious and unprecedented hit of a cricket ball over a distance of 100 yards. He claimed damages in negligence. Held: When looking at the duty of care the court should ask whether the risk was not so remote that a reasonable person would not have anticipated it. It was … Continue reading Bolton v Stone: HL 10 May 1951
russell_transocean The appellants worked on various shifts for the defendants in off-shore oil-fields. They were given on-shore rest breaks, which the employers said should count toward their holiday entitlements. Held: The Court dismissed the employees’ appeal and refused a requested reference to the European Court. The rest break, daily rtests and weekley rest periods are … Continue reading Russell and Others v Transocean International Resources Ltd and Others: SC 7 Dec 2011
The claimant was a solicitor partner with the appellant limited liability partnership at their offices in Tanzania. She disclosed what she believed to be money laundering by a local partner. She was dismissed. She had just disclosed her pregnancy and claimed also in sex discrimination. The company appealed findings as to jurisdiction saying that she … Continue reading Clyde and Co Llp and Another v Bates van Winkelhof: CA 26 Sep 2012
One claimant said that as a foreign resident pensioner, she had been excluded from the annual uprating of state retirement pension, and that this was an infringement of her human rights. Another complained at the lower levels of job-seeker’s allowance payable to those under 25. Held: (Lord Carswell dissented in part.) The claims failed. The … Continue reading Carson, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Reynolds v Same: HL 26 May 2005
Employment Tribunals to Provide Sufficient Reasons Tribunals, when giving their decisions, are required to do no more than to make clear their findings of fact and to answer any question of law raised. Bingham LJ said: ‘It has on a number of occasions been made plain that the decision of an Industrial Tribunal is not … Continue reading Meek v City of Birmingham District Council: CA 18 Feb 1987
The taxpayer challenged the ‘pay first’ rule under VAT which required them, before challenging a VAT assessment, first to deposit the VAT said to be due under the assessment.
Held: The appeal failed. There had not been shown any true . .
In each case, the employee had retired after long term sickness. The Employment tribunal had upheld their ability to claim arrears of sickness pay arising under the 1998 Regulations, as an unlawful deduction from their wages. They now appealed . .
Part-time workers claimed that they had been unlawfully excluded from occupational pension schemes because membership was dependent on an employee working a minimum number of hours per week and that that was discriminatory because a considerably . .
A minister of the Presbyterian Church of Wales who had been inducted pastor of a united pastorate in Wales claimed unfair dismissal.
Held: If the existence or otherwise of the relationship of employer and employee is dependent solely upon the . .
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