No need for comparison of labour laws in unfair dismissal territorial test (News, 22 September 2014)

Article summary

The general rule is that the right not to be unfairly dismissed applies to employees who are working in Great Britain at the time of their dismissal. Where an employee is employed wholly abroad at the time of their dismissal, the test for whether an employment tribunal has territorial jurisdiction to hear an unfair dismissal claim requires a comparison to be made between Great Britain and the jurisdiction in which the claimant works. If the employment has much stronger connections both with Great Britain and with British employment law than with that other jurisdiction, the employee will be protected if the British connection is sufficiently strong so that it could be presumed that Parliament intended that the unfair dismissal provisions should apply to the employee's circumstances. However, proof of such a connection is not established by making a comparison of the relative merits of British and any competing system of labour law. Court of Appeal: Dhunna...