Stuart Elcock v Kellogg Brown & Root (UK) Ltd — 2021

Stuart Elcock was employed by Kellogg Brown & Root (UK) Ltd as a Deputy Project Manager based in Afghanistan and was dismissed by reason of redundancy with an effective date of termination of 23 April 2020. He brought claims for unfair dismissal and unlawful deduction from wages said to relate to unpaid pension contributions. The hearing before Employment Judge Rahman on 7 December 2021 was a preliminary issue on jurisdiction. Early conciliation ran from 18 May 2020 to 18 June 2020 and the claim form was presented on 21 August 2020.

The tribunal considered the territorial scope of section 94(1) ERA 1996 with reference to Lawson v Serco and Duncombe v Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (No 2). It held that the unfair dismissal claim fell within the tribunal's territorial jurisdiction as an exceptional expatriate case. The reasons given included that the claimant was employed by a UK company throughout, the terms and conditions referred to the ERA 1996 and to tribunal jurisdiction, the redundancy process was handled by the respondent's UK head office, the redundancy payment was calculated in line with UK law, the claimant was paid in pounds through HMRC PAYE, had a UK tax code, was on the UK electoral roll, and was required to submit a UK self-assessment tax return.

The tribunal therefore concluded that it had jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal claim. It did not decide the merits of that claim at this hearing. On the unlawful deduction from wages claim, the tribunal reserved judgment and directed further submissions.