Bamsey v Albion Engineering – This case on holiday pay entitlements has
potentially huge ramifications for employers. It is now expected to go to the
Court of Appeal.
In Eastwood v Magnox Electric, the House of Lords will consider whether the
implied duty of trust and confidence governs the manner of dismissal by the
employer, leaving employees free to claim contractual damages for stress caused
by the circumstances of their dismissal.
The Advocate General’s opinion in Kiel v Jaeger, a German reference to the
ECJ, suggest that on-call hours for doctors count as working time, even if the
doctors spend their on-call hours asleep. This case could reopen controversy
about the working time definition, at the same time as the opt-out from the
48-hour weekly working time limit is due to be reviewed and possibly abolished
by the Commission.
Can employees outsourced under TUPE subsequently claim equal pay using
comparators still employed by the transferor? A recent advocate general’s
opinion in Allonby follows the earlier ECJ case of Lawrence in rejecting this
possibility, even if the TUPE transfer has been deliberately used to avoid
giving part-time employees the same terms as full-timers.