Ian Smith reports on some interesting employment law judgments which have emerged recently from the courts
In the last month, two high-profile cases ended in little progress, even though they were considered at the highest level. First, the Supreme Court considered the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the “pilots’ holiday pay” case (British Airways plc v Williamson [2012] UKSC 43). The argument at the resumed hearing revolved around whether a tribunal could hear the claim at all, given the lack in the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/756) of any definition of holiday pay, or even a procedure for determining it. It was held that the tribunal would have to do its best and the matter was remitted to it with little guidance as to the meaning of the CJEU’s judgment. We must now await that decision on the facts and any appeals. Second, the CJEU refused to determine the reference sent to it by the Court of Appeal in an important case on collective redundancy consultation (United States of America v Nolan C-583/10)
