''Wiluszynski v London Borough of Tower Hamlets'' 989ICR 439 is a

UK labour law United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK can rely upon a minimum charter of employment rights, which are found in Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equit ...

case concerning the

contract of employment An employment contract or contract of employment is a kind of contract used in labour law to attribute rights and responsibilities between parties to a bargain. The contract is between an "employee" and an "employer". It has arisen out of the old ...

. It held that if an employment was only partly performed due to a strike, this could be construed as not completing an entire obligation, so that even if an employer has received much more value, they need to pay nothing. This case has been criticised on the ground that it fails to give adequate weight to the context of employment contracts, which differ from commercial contracts, particularly in light of developments in the law of

unjust enrichment In laws of equity, unjust enrichment occurs when one person is enriched at the expense of another in circumstances that the law sees as unjust. Where an individual is unjustly enriched, the law imposes an obligation upon the recipient to make res ...

and the decision of ''

Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher ''Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher'' 011UKSC 41is a landmark UK labour law and English contract law case decided by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, concerning the scope of statutory protection of rights for working individuals. It confirmed the ...

''.

Facts

Mr Marek Wilusyzynski was a member of the trade union, the

National and Local Government Officers Association The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, and changed its full ...

, whose strike plan was to refuse to answer enquiries from

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

council members. This was only a very small proportion of his duties as a housing officer, because he dealt mainly with complaints directly from tenants. He made up three hours of work after five weeks of industrial action. Yet the council had warned that no payment would be made if work was not performed. John Hendy and

Jeremy McMullen Jeremy McMullen QC (14 September 1948 – 10 February 2015) was a trade unionist and barrister who went on to be a Circuit Judge. He was an expert on employment law and workers' rights who acted for clients as diverse as Conservative Party politi ...

for Marek. The first instance court said there had been substantial performance of the job, and management acquiesced in the variation.

Judgment

Nicholls LJ in the Court of Appeal held that no payment was due to the striking workers, because they had only partly performed an entire obligation of their contracts.

References

{{reflist

External links

*
Miles v Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
' UKHL 15, 1987, AC 539 United Kingdom labour case law Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases 1989 in United Kingdom case law London Borough of Tower Hamlets United Kingdom employment contract case law

Facts

Judgment

See also

References

Further reading

External links