Location of employment

Case 8: The facts

Mr Crofts and his colleagues worked as pilots for an airline registered in Hong Kong. The issue was whether they could claim UK employment rights under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA).

They were paid through a Hong Kong account and held Hong Kong pilots' licences. Their personnel files were kept in Hong Kong and flight instructions were issued from there, but they could have their home base in other countries, including the UK.

The ruling

A majority of the Court of Appeal held that the "geographical employment" test must be sufficiently flexible to bring the pilots' employment within the unfair dismissal provisions of the ERA.

The court said that airline pilots based in Great Britain were employed in Great Britain, because their contract required them to live in Great Britain.

Crofts and others v Cathay Pacific [2005] EWCA Civ 599