In the spirit of togetherness, Ian Smith rounds off the year with a look at precedent across the UK jurisdictions, umbrella companies & vicarious liability
- The Supreme Court held that appellate courts across the UK should show respect but not deference to decisions from other jurisdictions.
- The Employment Appeal Tribunal confirmed that umbrella company employment arrangements can be genuine and enforceable.
- The Court of Appeal was bound to follow precedent in allowing employers to be vicariously liable for detriments amounting to dismissal by fellow employees.
Employment law is usually quite well insulated from the remainder of civil law, but occasionally a case in another area has knock-on effects. This has happened this last month with the decision of the Supreme Court in R (on the application of Jwanczuk) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2025] UKSC 42, which actually concerned social security law, but in which the court took the opportunity to review the whole question of the relationship between the superior courts
