Working outside the UK

With closer ties developing between European states, more workers find themselves working outside the UK. Under the European Posting of Workers Directive 1996, all workers temporarily working in an EU state have the right to the same statutory minimum terms and conditions as those permanently working in that state.

Employment disputes are brought in the courts of the place where the employee habitually carries out their work, under the Brussels Convention. In Weber v Universal Ogden Services [2002] IRLR 365, the ECJ held that this is the state where the employee has worked the longest, except where the employee had worked in a number of states but had recently settled in one.

Employees working outside Great Britain can bring claims of unfair dismissal in the UK as long as their connection to Great Britain is “sufficiently strong” (Serco Ltd v Lawson; Botham v MoD; Crofts & others v Veta Ltd & others [2006] UKHL 3). This same test is used for claims under the Equality Act 2010 (Clyde & Co LLP v Bates [2012] EWCA Civ 1207).

The strengths and weaknesses of the judicial system in a claimant’s own country of residence are not relevant when deciding whether the UK employment tribunal has jurisdiction to hear a claim for unfair dismissal (Creditsights Limited v Dhunna [2014] EWCA Civ 1238).