29 February 2008
Employees who work abroad for an English company will be able to claim statutory holiday pay if (i) their employment contracts are governed by English law; or (ii) “mandatory rules” apply to their employment because England is the country which is most closely connected with their employment. It is now clear that there is no requirement that the connection with England be a strong one.
In Mr M Bleuse v (1) MBT Transport Ltd (2) Mr F Tiefenbacher UKEAT/0339/07 & UKEAT/0632/07, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) held that a German claimant, who had worked mainly in Germany and Austria for a company registered in the UK under a contract governed by English law, was able to claim statutory holiday pay in the UK. The EAT found that the UK statutory holiday provisions stemming from the Working Time Directive were sufficiently precise and clear to be directly effective. This could be given effect by construing the UK provisions in a way that was compatible with the terms of the underlying Directive.
If overseas employees can establish direct effect of the relevant EU law and that UK law is capable of being construed in accordance with it, they will potentially be able to bring claims derived from EU law in the UK.