Legal Update: City Link and Spring Update 2016

Circular No NP/ 164 /16
To All Branches, Regional Offices & Regional Councils
Our Ref: L/3/2016
2ND June 2016

Dear Colleagues,

Legal Update:  City Link and Spring Update 2016

1.    City Link

I am pleased to announce that judgment in the employment tribunal claim supported by the Union, in respect of the above, has now been received.

The Leeds Employment Tribunal made a protective award of 90 days’ pay to individual members due to the Company’s failure to inform and consult in respect of the dismissals.

The award is classed as outstanding wages and members will be able to recover up to 8 weeks’ wages from the Insolvency Service, subject to any payments for wages they have already received. Our solicitors have written to the Insolvency Service and asked that they process the payment for our members, we cannot at this stage advise on how long it might take before our members are paid.

Payment of the shortfall between the wages our members recover from the Insolvency Service and the award made by the Employment Tribunal will be dependent upon whether or not a payment is made to unsecured creditors by the administrators and we cannot say at this stage whether our members are likely to receive any further compensation in respect of this matter.

2. In the case of Federacion De Servicios Privados Del Sindicato Comisiones Operas v Tyco Integrated Security SL and Anor (C-266/114) the  European Court ruled that time spent by workers who do not have a fixed habitual place of work and travel between their home and the premises of their first and last customer of the day amounts to working time.  Notably, the decision did not determine that this time had to be paid.  It seems that some employers are relying on the decision in another case (Tyco) to argue perversely that they do not need to pay for travel time.  Where employers are withdrawing pay for travel time which has previously been paid as a term of contract a claim for unlawful deduction from wages may arise.
Whilst travel to work does not count for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage, there is currently an Employment Tribunal claim being pursued that the National Minimum Wage should be paid for travel between appointments for a care worker, Barlow v Mi Homecare.   

Developments will be included in the future Legal Update.

Please bring these matters to the attention of our members and activists.


Yours sincerely,
 
Mick Cash
General Secretary