Pouring oil on troubled waters? Employment tribunals, "jurisdiction" and the territorial scope of unfair dismissal

Abstract

This paper analyses five recent EAT decisions that explore the territorial limits of unfair dismissal claims. Those claims have been brought by peripatetic and expatriate workers, and as such they are directly concerned with the ramifications of the House of Lords’ ruling in Lawson v Serco where Lord Hoffmann sought to provide guidance for tribunals in the wake of the repeal of the relevant statutory provision. The authors conclude that despite the best endeavours of his Lordship, and of the tribunals and the EAT in these cases, difficulties will inevitably arise when one seeks to apply his guidance to the complex facts of specific situations. The authors also contend that in the Scottish cases in particular, the word ‘jurisdiction’ has been erroneously and confusingly used in discussions that actually concern the territorial scope of the 1996 Act rather than ‘jurisdiction’ in its proper sense.