Prestwick Circuits Ltd v McAndrew

The facts

From February 1975 until May 1987, Mr McAndrew was employed as a process operator in the appellants' factory at Mosshill Industrial Estate, Ayr. In 1983, a second factory was opened at Irvine, some 15 miles away. Employees engaged after 1983 had a specific term in the contracts allowing for deployment at either factory but no attempt was made to introduce an express mobility clause into the contracts of pre-1983 employees such as Mr McAndrew. Nevertheless, there had been both temporary and permanent moves from one factory to the other, not only by employees whose contracts contained the mobility clause but also by those employed on the same terms and conditions as Mr McAndrew.