Great Britain: court rules against using temporary workers to limit the impact of strike action

Starting 10 August, UK employers can no longer use temporary workers to fill in for when their own staff members are on strike. A UK High Court has ruled as ‘illegal’ the UK Government’s temporary worker measure, which it adopted during summer 2022 as a way of dealing with a surge in industrial action. 
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A total of 13 trade unions, including the GMB, Unite, and Usdaw, recently undertook legal action against new regulations allowing businesses to employ agency workers during industrial action in order to limit the impact of strikes. The plaintiffs argued that the executive had failed to consult them before implementing this change, as stipulated in the Employment Agencies Act 1973. They also argued that the new law failed to respect Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights,...

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