- McMeechan v Secretary of State for Employment
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McMeechan v Secretary of State for Employment Court Court of Appeal Citation(s) [1996] EWCA Civ 1166, [1995] IRLR 461, [1997] IRLR 353 Case opinions Waite LJ, Potter LJ and McCowan LJ Keywords Contract of employment McMeechan v Secretary of State for Employment [1996] EWCA Civ 1166 is a UK labour law case concerning the scope of protection for people to employment rights. It took the view that an agency worker did have a employment contract for the purpose of claiming for unpaid wages on an employer's insolvency.
Contents
Facts
Mr McMeechan's employer went insolvent, and so he claimed the wages he did not get from the Minister. He had been registered with an agency called Noel Employment Ltd, without a written contract, but with a job description of each assignment. He claimed £105 for four days work. In his contract he agreed ‘to fulfil the normal common law duties which an employee would owe to an employer so far as they are applicable’
The Employment Tribunal held he was not an employee. The Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned the Tribunal. The Secretary of State appealed.
Judgment
Waite LJ held that Mr McMeechan was an employee of the agency for this period and so he could claim from the Secretary of State for unpaid wages.
“ Each engagement is capable, according to its context, of giving rise to a contract of employment. That was acknowledged in Nethermere… ” Potter LJ and McCowan LJ agreed.
See also
Workplace protection cases Lawrie-Blum v Land Baden-Wurttenberg (1986) C-66/85Pfeiffer v Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (2005) C-397/01Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41Cassidy v Minister of Health [1951] 2 KB 343Ready Mixed Concrete Ltd v SS for Pensions [1968] 2 QB 497Market Invest Ltd v Minister for Social Security [1969] 2 QB 173O’Kelly v Trusthouse Forte plc [1983] ICR 730Nethermere (St Neots) Ltd v Gardiner [1984] ICR 612Lee Ting Sang v Chung Chi-Keung [1990] UKPC 1Hall v Lorimer [1993] EWCA Civ 25Lane v Shire Roofing Co (Oxford) Ltd [1995] EWCA Civ 37McMeechan v SS for Employment [1996] EWCA Civ 1166Carmichael v National Power plc [1999] UKHL 47James v Greenwich LBC [2008] EWCA Civ 35see Scope of UK labour law protection - Contract of employment in English law
- UK labour law
- UK insolvency law
- EU labour law
- US labor law
- German labour law
Notes
References
External links
Categories:- United Kingdom labour case law
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