Weekly Issue 398

Labour & European Law Review 03 December 2014

Employers named and shamed

Following legislation introduced last year allowing the government to name and shame employers who do not comply with minimum wage rules, it named another 25 culprits last week.

Lack of mutuality

The Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination not just for people working under a contract of employment, but also for those engaged personally to do work. In Windle and Arada v Secretary of State for Justice, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that tribunals must not take into account a lack of “mutuality of obligation” when considering whether someone is engaged under a contract to do work personally.

Acting out

To qualify for the minimum wage and holiday pay, individuals have to establish their employment status as workers. In MacAlinden v Lazarov and ors, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that, in order to decide, judges have to focus on whether the worker is actively marketing their services as an independent person to the world in general or working for someone else as an integral part of their operations.