ECJ 13 July 2016, case C-187/15 (Pöpperl), Free movement, pension

The replacement of civil servants’ pension rights by less valuable general pension rights is contrary Article 45 TFEU.

ECtHR 2 June 2016, application 23646/09. (Geotech), Freedom of Association

A company’s obligation to participate in the building industry’s Social Welfare Fund did not breach the company’s right to freedom of association, nor its right to protection of property.

2016/46 No expectation of privacy in material obtained during a criminal investigation (UK)

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (‘EAT’) has upheld an Employment Tribunal’s (‘ET’s’) finding that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’) was not engaged when an employer used private material obtained by the police during a criminal investigation as part of an internal disciplinary investigation into one of its employees. This material had been taken from the claimant’s phone by the police, who then provided it to the employer (stating that it could be used for the purposes of their investigation). The facts in this case were unusual. Whether or not an employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy in similar circumstances will depend on all the facts, including the source of the information, whether the employee has expressly objected to its use, and whether the relevant conduct took place in, or was brought into, the workplace.

ECtHR 2 June 2016, application 23646/09. (Geotech), Freedom of Association

A company’s obligation to participate in the building industry’s Social Welfare Fund did not breach the company’s right to freedom of association, nor its right to protection of property.

Case C-48/16. Commercial agents

Must the expression ‘the contract between the third party and the principal will not be executed’...

Case C-143/16. Age discrimination

Is the rule of national law set out in Article 34 of Legislative Decree No 276 of 2003, according...

ECJ 28 July 2016, case C-423/15 (Kratzer), Discrimination, abuse

Applying for a job for the purpose of claiming discrimination compensation after being turned down constitutes an abuse of right.

ECJ 20 July 2016, case C-341/15 (Maschek), Paid leave

The fact that a worker retires voluntarily does not deprive him of the right to payment in lieu of paid annual leave he was unable to use up on account of sickness.

2016/41 Employers must observe collective bargaining agreement-based restrictions on temporary agency work even if they are not justified (FI)

A company had leased some employees from a temporary work agency between 2008 and 2012 to work alongside its own employees on a continuous basis. The collective bargaining agreement that the company was bound by restricted the use of temporary agency workers to situations in which the work could not be performed by the company’s own staff. The trade union brought an action before the Labour Court claiming that the company had used temporary agency workers continuously to a greater extent than permitted by the collective bargaining agreement and that the employers’ association, of which the company was a member, had breached its supervisory duty. In a preliminary ruling, the ECJ held that the Temporary Agency Work Directive (2008/104/EC) does not oblige national courts to refuse to apply national law containing prohibitions or restrictions, even if those restrictions were not justified. Having confirmed that national restrictions may be applied, the Labour Court imposed a compensatory fine of € 3,000 on the company and € 4,000 on the employers’ association.

Case C-175/16. Working time

Must Article 17(1) of Directive 2003/88 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working...