With pre-election purdah offering a (brief) cessation of legislation, Ian Smith focuses on the work of the EAT and some fairly fundamental points of interpretation. Simples!
- Fixed-term employment: when are successive contracts justified?
- National minimum wage—when does time travelling count?
- Redundancy—what are the requirements in a ‘pool of one’ case?
- TUPE—when does commissioning count as an economic activity?
As employment lawyers enjoyed their one saving grace of the purdah period leading up to an election (ie, a cessation of legislation), the EAT has made up for it by producing useful judgments on some fairly fundamental points of interpretation. The cases selected for consideration this month can be summed up in four apparently simple questions: (i) when are successive fixed-term contracts exceeding in aggregate four years justifiable? (ii) when does time travelling count in applying the National Minimum Wage? (iii) what are the requirements for a fair redundancy dismissal in a ‘pool of one’ case? and (iv) in the TUPE context, when does commissioning qualify as an ‘economic activity’?
