Employment Law news

Taxing times?
Unite warn of more strikes as more than 50,000 HMRC workers down tools in protest at Government plans to freeze salaries and reduce staff numbers. Click here to read more.

Time running out
The 90-day consultation phase over the future of Remploy comes to an end today. However, Unite is hoping to be able to extend the period so that discussions may continue. The consultation relates to plans to close seven of nine factories across Wales, which employ people with disabilities and learning difficulties. Click here to read more.

Employment case law

Europe

Falling ill while on annual leave | Working Time Directive

Asociación Nacional de Grandes Empresas de Distribución (ANGED) v Federación de Asociaciones Sindicales (FASGA) and Others [2012] EUECJ C-78/11 (21 June 2012)
The Court of Justice of the European Union considered whether the Directive precludes the Spanish legislation under which a worker who becomes unfit for work during a period of paid annual leave is not entitled subsequently to that annual leave where it coincides with the period of unfitness for work. The Court decided that the Spanish legislation in question was contrary to the Directive.

The Court pointed out that, according to settled case-law, entitlement to paid annual leave must be regarded as a particularly important principle of EU social law, a principle expressly enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The right to paid annual leave cannot be interpreted restrictively. Click here to read the decision.

Employment Appeal Tribunal

Sex Discrimination | Territorial Jurisdiction

Simpson v Intralinks [2012] EAT 0593/11 (15 June 2012)
The claimant brought claims under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and Equal Pay Act 1970 in an Employment Tribunal in the UK. The parties had agreed that in the event of any employment dispute, the applicable law would be German, and the place of jurisdiction Frankfurt, which was where the claimant lived and from where she worked (though she came on occasion to the UK). The Employment Judge held the ET did not have jurisdiction. An application for review was refused. The EAT held that the employment judge was wrong to refuse to hold a review. As to whether the claimant could continue her claim in the UK, the EAT answered yes. The Brussels I Regulation had the effect that the UK had jurisdiction. Although German law was applicable under the Rome Convention, this could not exclude the provisions of the UK Acts, which (since they had world-wide territorial scope) should be applied. Click here to read the judgment.

Disability Discrimination | Discrimination by other bodies

Croad v University And College Union [2011] EAT 0012/11 (13 June 2012)
The appellant brought a disability discrimination claim against her union when it withdrew funding and legal representation in a dispute that had arisen between her and her employer. The EAT held that the union by withdrawing funding had not discriminated against the appellant. Click here to read the judgment.

Events

Pensions - What Every Employment Lawyer Should Know
Monday 25 June 2012, 10.30 to 16.15
The ELA will hold a one day course in London at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Speakers include Andrew Taggart (Herbert Smith), Claire Southern and Catherine Adamson (Hogan Lovells), Nicholas Squire (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) and Martin Scott (Mayer Brown International).Click here for further information.