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23 March 2007 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7265 / Categories: Features , Tribunals , TUPE , Employment
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Employment law brief: 23 March 2007

Worker v home worker, Lapsed warnings, TUPE transfers

We are seeing a series of important decisions from the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) addressing key points in modern employment law. Much emphasis is on the statutory procedures, as seen in previous briefings, but this month the focus is on three decisions of President Elias on fundamental issues of longer-standing law.

THE WORKER DEFINITION

James v Redcats (Brands) Ltd [2007] UKEAT 475/06, [2007] All ER (D) 270 (Feb) is a rare example of the worker definition having to be considered in the context of a national minimum wage (NMW) claim—as opposed to the more usual context of working time, particularly holiday pay. While the statutory definition is the same, the NMW provenance did have one specific effect towards the end of the judgment, given by Elias P sitting alone.
The question was whether a parcel courier delivering for the respondent was a ‘worker’ or alternatively a ‘home worker’, under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA 1998),
s 35, for the purpose

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NEWS

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law
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