LRD guides and handbook May 2013

Law at Work 2013

Chapter 6

Employers’ liability for acts by agency workers

Notwithstanding the planned repeal of section 40 of the EA 10, it is worth noting that employers remain liable for acts of harassment or discrimination by agency workers and other workers under the employer’s control but not directly employed by them:

Mr Mahood, who was of Irish nationality, claimed he was harassed and called names by the agency worker who worked alongside him. The EAT confirmed that a hirer is liable for acts of harassment or discrimination by an agency worker carried out while working under the hirer’s control, just as if the agency worker had been the hirer’s own employee.

Mahood v Irish Centre Housing Limited [2011] UKEAT/0228/10/ZT