ECJ Social policy – Directive 2003/88/EC – Article 7 – Right to paid annual leave – Precondition for entitlement imposed by national rules – Absence of the worker – Length of the leave entitlement based on the nature of the absence – National rules incompatible with Directive 2003/88 – Role of the national court Judges: … Continue reading Dominguez v Prefect of the Central Region (Social Policy): ECJ 24 Jan 2012
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
ECJ Directive 2003/88/EC working time arrangements Article 7 Right to paid annual leave minimal right of the compensatory leave not taken Fundamental social rights in Community law Loss of entitlement to the expiration of the time prescribed by law Citations: C-350/06, [2008] EUECJ C-350/06 – O Links: Bailii Statutes: Directive 2003/88/EC Cited by: Opinion – … Continue reading Schultz-Hoff v Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund (Social Policy): ECJ 24 Jan 2008
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
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 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 employee security guard appealed against a finding that his employer had allowed rest breaks as allowed under the Regulations. He worked a continuous shift during which he was allowed to use a rest area, but he remained on call. Held: The appeal failed. The break given to the appellant would not satisfy the regulation … Continue reading Hughes v The Corps of Commissionaires Management Ltd: CA 8 Sep 2011
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS – Working outside the jurisdiction WORKING TIME REGULATIONS – Holiday pay The approach to determining whether an employee of British company who works and lives abroad falls within the territorial scope of the Employment Rights Act 1996 section 94(1) has been developed since Lawson v Serco Ltd [2006] ICR 250. The question … Continue reading Dhunna v Creditsights Ltd: EAT 3 Apr 2013
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
The applicants complained that as an unmarried couple they had been excluded from consideration as adopters. Held: Northern Ireland legislation had not moved in the same way as it had for other jurisdictions within the UK. The greater commitment to traditional family structures did not however justify the difference. The rules were unlawful discrimination.Lord Hoffmann … Continue reading In re P and Others, (Adoption: Unmarried couple) (Northern Ireland); In re G: HL 18 Jun 2008
EAT WORKING TIME REGULATIONSWorking Time Regulations. Rest breaks. Security guard (special case under regulation 21(b)). Whether receiving ‘an equivalent period of compensatory rest’ (regulation 24(a)). Whether not possible for objective reasons to grant such compensatory rest (regulation 24(b). Whether, if so, employer granting him appropriate protection.Employment Tribunal found no breach of WTR since employer met … Continue reading Hughes v The Corps of Commissionaires Management Ltd: EAT 22 Nov 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
When calculating the entitlement to holiday pay the apportionment had to be made on the number of working days in a year, not on the number of days in a year. The regulations required this interpretation rather than that under the Act. A consequence of using the full year might well be to apply an … Continue reading Leisure Leagues UK Ltd v Maconnachie: EAT 14 Mar 2002
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
(Grand Chamber) Several employees claimed that having been absent from work sick, they were entitled to carry forward their unused holiday entitlements, or if a former worker, to pay in lieu under the Working Time directive. Held: The workers were so entitled. The right to holiday was a basic right guaranteed to every worker whatever … Continue reading Stringer and Others v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs; Schultz-Hoff v Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund: ECJ 20 Jan 2009
EAT WORKING TIME REGULATIONS The claimant, who worked as a security officer, made a claim for compensatory rest under the Working Time Regulations. Under regulation 12 of those regulations, it is provided that ‘where a worker’s daily working time is more than six hours he is entitled to a rest break’. Such a break is … Continue reading The Corps of Commissionaires Management Ltd v Hughes: EAT 22 Oct 2008
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
DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY The Claimant was employed by the Respondent diplomat to work as a domestic servant at his diplomatic residence in the UK, having previously been employed by him in his diplomatic household in Saudi Arabia. By her ET1 form she contended that she was a victim of international trafficking by the Respondent and had … Continue reading Basfar v Wong (Diplomatic Immunity): EAT 31 Jan 2020
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
EAT The claimant was dismissed and presented a claim for unfair dismissal. In his ET1, he asserted a belief that he had been dismissed because of his assertion of a statutory right. The form referred to the respondents having tried to have the claimant work in excess of 48 hours per week. At the time … Continue reading Mclean and v Rainbow Homeloans Ltd: EAT 15 Sep 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
EAT Calculation of holiday pay in circumstances where the employees were entitled to a fixed and variable bonus. Did the pay vary with the work done? The Employment Tribunal held that it did and that both pursuant to contract and under the Working Time Regulations 1998 the holiday pay should be determined by averaging the … Continue reading May Gurney Ltd v Adshead and others: EAT 26 Jul 2006
Judges: Lord Justice Mummery Lord Justice Scott Baker The Right Honourable Sir Charles Mantell Citations: [2006] EWCA Civ 537 Links: Bailii Statutes: Working Time Regulations 1998 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Employment Updated: 06 July 2022; Ref: scu.241572
EAT The Tribunal erred in law in holding that the Appellant had received the rest breaks to which she was entitled under reg 12 of the Working Time Regulations 1998. Gallagher v Alpha Catering Services Ltd [2005] IRLR 102 applied.The Tribunal erred in law in holding that the Appellant was not working for the purpose … Continue reading MacCartney v Oversley House Management: EAT 31 Jan 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
The applicant was a 15 year old paper boy. He sought holiday pay under the regulations. The employer resisted, saying he was not a worker under the regulation, being still in compulsory full time education. Held: No formal system of holidays operated. Children were not explicitly excluded from the Working Time Directive, but were rather … Continue reading Addison and Another (t/a Brayton News) v Ashby: EAT 17 Jan 2003
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
During the course of case management of a claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, the Employment Tribunal considered applications to amend the claim to pursue claims for (a) unpaid annual leave under the WTR 1998; (b) unlawful deduction from wages and (c) breach of contract. The Tribunal allowed the amendment in respect of the … Continue reading Thomas v St Mungo Housing Association (Unfair Dismissal and Disability Discrimination): EAT 7 Sep 2021
The claimant had been asked to work under cover. The surveillance equipment he was asked to use was faulty, requiring him to put himself at risk repeatedly to maintain it resulting in a stress disorder and a stroke. Held: There was a direct line of causation between the known faults in the equipment, and the … Continue reading Donachie v The Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police: CA 7 Apr 2004
The employers provided ‘bank nurses’ for nursing homes and other institutions on an emergency basis, including a 24 hour telephone booking service. At night employees were based at home. The ‘duty nurse’ would answered a diverted phone call and then respond. The employee was paid an amount per shift. The Minimum Wage Compliance Team thought … Continue reading British Nursing Association v Inland Revenue (National Minimum Wage Compliance Team): CA 2002
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
EAT Working Time Regulations – holiday pay calculation Judges: His Hon Judge Ansell Citations: EAT/365/02, [2003] EAT 365 – 02 – 2703, [2003] UKEAT 365 – 02 – 2703, [2003] ICR 1224 Links: Bailii, Bailii, EAT Cited by: Appeal from – D Bamsey and others v Albon Engineering and Manufacturing Plc CA 25-Mar-2004 The applicants … Continue reading D Bamsey and others v Albon Engineering Ltd: EAT 3 Mar 2003
The worker was employed as a carer for a lady who would need support at unpredictable times, but on average she would need some 6 hours’ care a day. Whilst at work, the claimant would stay with her patient for a full 24 hour day, but, except when actually engaged in giving care, she was … Continue reading Walton v The Independent Living Organisation: CA 26 Feb 2003
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
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
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
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 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
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
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 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
EAT The claimant was employed to work as a standby carpenter by the respondents, for the production of ‘Sea of Souls’, for a period of some 24 weeks. His contract provided that his services would be required for up to 6 days each week and that regarding leave, he was entitled to 6 days of … Continue reading Sumsion v BBC (Scotland): EAT 21 Mar 2007
ECJ Reference for a preliminary ruling: Arbeitsgericht Lorrach – Germany. Social policy – Protection of the health and safety of workers – Directive 93/104/EC – Scope – Emergency workers in attendance in ambulances in the framework of an emergency service run by the German Red Cross – Definition of ‘road transport’ – Maximum weekly working … Continue reading Pfeiffer v Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Waldshut eV (1): ECJ 5 Oct 2004
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 Jurisdictional Points : Worker, Employee or Neither – WORKING TIME REGULATIONS – Worker CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT – Whether established Employment status. The Claimant lodged a claim of unfair dismissal, age discrimination and a claim for holiday pay. The Respondent denied that he was an employee, arguing that he was a self-employed independent contractor. The … Continue reading Conroy v Scottish Football Association Ltd: EAT 12 Dec 2013
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
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 claimant sought damages after suffering injury when falling from a ladder working on the uninsured builder’s site. He sued the owners of the property, saying that by refusing to allow or pay for the work to be conducted in safer ways, she had taken control over the works and made herself responsible, pointing to … Continue reading Kmiecic v Isaacs: QBD 12 Mar 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 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
Car Cleaning nil-hours Contractors were Workers The company contracted with the claimants to work cleaning cars. The company appealed against a finding that contrary to the explicit provisions of the contracts, they were workers within the Regulations and entitled to holiday pay and associated benefits. The contracts were ‘nil hours’ contracts neither requiring nor entitling … Continue reading Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher and Others: SC 27 Jul 2011
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
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
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 had previously succeeded in a claim of sex discrimination against the University, her former employer. She now appealed against rejection of her claims alleging later victimisation. Held: Two appeals succeed, and those matters remitted to the tribunal for reconsideration: ‘I do not see why not: if the appellant were able to establish that … Continue reading Deer v University of Oxford: CA 6 Feb 2015
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
The claimant sought damages for the development of neural plaques, having been exposed to asbestos while working for the defendant. The presence of such plaques were symptomless, and would not themselves cause other asbestos related disease, but signalled the presence of asbestos in the lungs. The employer appealed a finding of liability. Held: The claims … Continue reading Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd; Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd; similar: HL 17 Oct 2007
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
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
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 . .
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (‘the Respondent’) appealed the Employment Tribunal’s (‘the Tribunal’) conclusion that the Claimant, a panel member chair of its Fitness to Practice Committee, was a worker within the meaning of section 230(3)(b) . .
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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