Ian Smith considers the latest employment law developments
Three cases in the last month have addressed issues of current concern in employment law, namely nil-hours contracts, the employment status of partners and how to calculate holiday pay when the employee is remunerated other than simply by basic rates. These all contain important explorations of fundamental principles but the other thing that links them is that there must be the strong feeling in relation to each that considerably more will need to be decided about them in future litigation.
Nil-hours contracts: the problems start to crystallise
The question of the status of those on “nil-hours contracts” has recently taken on some political controversy. The decision of Judge Shanks in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Saha v Viewpoint Field Services Ltd UKEAT/0116/13 shows how difficult a question this can be and how reliant it is on factual findings. Interestingly, the judgment ends with a statement by the judge that this is an area in need of legislative reform.
The claimant was
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