IR35. If you know what the code refers to, you’re probably stifling a little groan. If you don’t, then I have the narrative role of explaining that IR35 legislation seeks to allow HMRC to demand that individuals who are ’employees in all but name’ as treated as if they are an employee (rather than self-employed)…
The ‘illegality principle’ prevents a court from aiding a claimant who has based their claim on an immoral or illegal act, meaning that a tribunal or court will generally not enforce an illegal contract.
An employer of an individual working under an illegal contract can raise a defence against any employment claims the individual may bring against them. This is what is known as the ‘illegality
defence’, the basis of which is that the contract is illegal and therefore void, so the claim should not succeed.
A common example of an individual working under an ‘illegal contract’ would be an employee who is working in the UK despite not having the right to – i.e. working illegally, in breach of immigration laws.
In recent years, tribunals and civil courts have been reluctant to allow an employer to use the illegality defence to block vulnerable migrant workers’ employment tribunal claims.
An interesting Court of Appeal decision has further illustrated this. The case of Okedina v Chikale, has shown that an employer cannot always automatically rely on a breach of immigration rules to argue that an employment contract is unenforceable. The matter concerned contractual claims (including unfair dismissal) brought by a Malawian national whose leave to remain (and right to work) in the UK had expired two years before the time she was summarily dismissed.
April is not the only month when legislative changes are introduced – employers and employees should be aware of the following changes, which were implemented on 1st October 2016: National Minimum Wage– the standard adult rate for workers aged 21 and over increased to £6.95, the development rate for those aged 18-20 to £5.55, the young…
Further to my previous blog post about the introduction of the national living wage (NLW), I was interested to read that not all of us think the effective increase to the national minimum wage will have a positive impact on the UK or its employees. You will by now probably be aware that larger businesses…
Cleeve Link Ltd v Bryla concerned the question of the enforceability of a clause seeking to recoup recruitment costs from an employee, and clearly establishes that an Employment Tribunal is entitled to consider whether or not such a clause is unenforceable as a penalty. It arose in the case of Ms Bryla, a care worker…
In case you’re overcome with excitement at the prospect of the Olympic torch appearing on a High Street near you, here’s a quick reminder of the employment law impact of the suspension of the usual Sunday Trading laws from 22 July to 9 September. Shop workers can opt out of Sunday working in larger shops…
[picappgallerysingle id=”8828664″ align=”left”] The Court of Appeal will begin hearing submissions at 2.00 p.m. this afternoon in order to determine whether Unite will be granted leave to appeal against yesterday’s injunction which prevented the latest scheduled strike from going ahead. As has been widely reported, Mr Justice McCombe granted an injunction in favour of British…