A Ryanair pilot has won a landmark legal victory on worker status at the Court of Appeal.
Jason Lutz worked for Ryanair through an agency, Storm Global, who insisted he was self-employed and therefore not entitled to the same employment rights as salaried employees.
At the employment tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), the courts concluded that Lutz was a worker and agency worker of Storm Global, which is engaged by Ryanair to provide “contract pilots” to its network.
Storm Global took the case to the Court of Appeal, which has now decided in Lutz’s favour and that – as a worker – he is therefore entitled to employment rights such as paid leave.
Worker status
The unanimous decision by the Court of Appeal could have a significant impact on the rights of other pilots who have been recruited and engaged in this way, affecting employment practices in the aviation industry and in engaging agency workers more generally.
Lutz was supported in his case by the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA), and represented by law firm Farrer & Co.
Balpa general secretary Amy Leversidge, said: “This is a landmark legal victory for not only Jason Lutz and our member pilots, but agency workers all across the UK aviation industry and beyond.
“For too long, aviation workers have been denied fundamental rights through complex and ambiguous employment arrangements.
“The Court of Appeal’s unanimous judgment sends a powerful message: labels like ‘self-employed’ cannot be used to sidestep employment protections.”
The previous rulings were based on the findings that Lutz was a worker of Storm Global, an employment agency, hiring him out as an agency worker to work as a pilot for Ryanair.
Although a right to substitution existed in his contract – meaning he could, in theory, send someone else to work in his place – the court found that there were restrictions because of airline safety regulations.
Alice Yandle, a partner at Farrer & Co, explained that this was the first time the Court of Appeal has addressed how worker status and agency worker rights apply in the context of long-term assignments.
She added: “This outcome reflects our ability to deliver results in complex, first-of-their-kind cases that push the boundaries of existing legal frameworks.”
This is another in a long line of legal disputes on worker status, with the most recent focusing on the status of Addison Lee drivers, who are now entitled to backdated pay and compensation for loss of earnings.
Although a raft of new rights for gig economy workers will be introduced when the Employment Rights Bill begins to take effect next year, a government pledge to review the current tier system for worker status does not feature in the new legislation.
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