Where to take claims

Many workers have contracts that require them to work in a European Union state different from their country of origin. If they are unfairly dismissed or otherwise have action taken against them they need to know which country it is that they can pursue their claim in.

The latest ruling from the European Court of Justice on the issue suggests that it should be the state in which the employee has worked the longest. The only circumstance where this would not apply is where the employee has, after a period of mobility, settled to work within one state. In this situation it would be the laws of that state that would be applicable.

* Weber v Universal Ogden Services [2002] IRLR 365