Tribunal jurisdiction: Teachers employed abroad by Government can bring unfair dismissal claims in Great Britain
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Duncombe and others v Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families [2011] IRLR 498 SC (1 other report)
The Supreme Court, the highest court in the UK, disagreed with all the lower courts on this issue. The employment tribunal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and the Court of Appeal had all held that the use of successive fixed-term contracts was not objectively justified.
In Duncombe and others v Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families [2011] IRLR 498 SC, the Supreme Court held that the employment of teachers seconded to European Schools on successive fixed-term contracts was objectively justified. However, the teachers could bring unfair dismissal claims in Great Britain in respect of the non-renewal of those contracts, even though they worked wholly abroad.
