In a decision with implications for unfair dismissal law generally, the UK’s Supreme Court (SC) ruled that it is not always necessary for a dismissing manager to know about whistleblowing disclosures made by an employee in order for that dismissal to be automatically unfair.

Relying on the prohibition of age discrimination stemming from Directive 2000/78, the Brussels Labour Tribunal, in a judgment of 28 November 2019, ruled that an age limit of 25 for the recruitment of air traffic controllers constituted direct discrimination. Its decision was grounded on the fact that even if there are objective reasons related to air traffic safety which may justify setting an age limit for applicants, the employer must adduce concrete evidence based on scientific facts.

Clause 5 of the Framework Agreement on fixed-term work applies also to workers who continuously occupy interim posts based on successive fixed-term contracts in the absence of a recruitment procedure.

In the context of a takeover of an activity which requires substantial operating resources, not transferring the substantial operating resources cannot necessarily preclude the classification as a transfer of an undertaking, since other factual circumstances make it possible to establish that the identity of the economic entity has been retained.

German provisions disregarding salary obtained under another jurisdiction when calculating unemployment benefits found contrary to Regulation 883/2004.

On 20 June 2019, Vilnius Regional Court in Lithuania (instance of appeal) delivered a decision in a case where the applicants claimed that a temporary employment agency, UAB Manpower Lit (the ‘Agency’), which recruited temporary workers (‘claimants’) for the European Institute for Gender Equality (‘EIGE’), paid them lower salaries than permanent staff. It was ruled that the Agency had discriminated against these workers by paying them lower salaries than they would have received if they had been recruited directly by EIGE. The Court also ordered the payment of pay arrears for a certain period to the temporary staff.

The assistance for integration of mentally disabled children and young people, provided for in the German Social Code does not constitute a benefit within the meaning of Article 3 of Regulation 883/2004 and therefore falls outside its material scope. Morover, Article 5 precludes that the German provision at issue and the child-rearing allowance for a disabled child provided for in the French Social Security Code cannot be considered issues of an equivalent nature for the purpose of Article 5(a). The principle of equal treatment of facts enshrined in Article 5(b) applies, so that the French authorities must take into account similar facts occurring in Germany as though they had taken place on their own territory.

Failure to reinstate an employee upon her return from parental leave in her initial position or a similar position with equivalent remuneration can constitute indirect gender discrimination.

Denial of surviving spouse pension found legitimate, as living together cannot be considered equal to marriage or registered non-marital partnership.

An unconditional right of pre-emption to pharmacists employed by the municipal pharmacy in a tendering procedure is contrary to the freedom of establishment.