In a victory for workers’ rights, the Supreme Court has refused Ryanair permission to appeal against a landmark judgement which ruled that a pilot who flew exclusively for the airline was a temporary worker and not a self-employed contractor.

BALPA member Jason Lutz had worked for Ryanair through the aviation recruitment agency Storm Global Ltd (previously MCG) 2017. He wore the airline’s uniform, and Ryanair set his rosters and authorised his holidays.  Ryanair had sought to argue that Mr. Lutz was not a temporary worker under regulation 2 (1) (a) of the Agency Workers Regulations.

The Supreme Court’s ruling, delivered on 31 October, stated that Ryanair had not raised any relevant or new points of law which the Court ought to   and ordered Ryanair to pay costs.

BALPA General Secretary Amy Leversidge said, “Ryanair has fought every step of the way to deny our member’s employment rights, but BALPA has stood by him throughout.

“Today’s victory sends an undeniable message not only to Ryanair but to other employers using flexible labour. Labels like ‘self-employed’ cannot be used to deny workers their employment rights.

“This is great news, not only for our pilot members but for all agency and gig workers in the UK.”

An Employment Tribunal (ET) had found that Mr. Lutz was both an employee of MCG and their agency worker hired out to Ryanair, and not – as both companies claimed – a self-employed contractor. As such, he was entitled to holiday pay and other key employment rights and protections such as sick pay and proper rest breaks.

The Supreme Court’s rejection of further legal argument means that the question of law has been settled and highlights BALPA’s support in fighting for pilots’ employment rights.  This case now settles the law on those temporarily engaged and has major implications for employers reliant on freelance and contract workers across aviation, the gig economy and other sectors reliant on flexible labour.

ENDS

BALPA represents over 10,000 pilots working for airlines across the UK.