Part-time tribunal chairman not 'worker'

The EAT (Elias P presiding) has held that a fee-paid, part-time chairman of various social security appeals' tribunals was not a worker, so as to attract the protection of the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000.

The part-time chairman claimed he did not receive equal (pro rata) pension rights to full-time chairmen.

Dealing with the preliminary point as to whether he qualified as a 'worker', the EAT held there was no EU concept of 'worker' which trumped (or provided interpretative assistance) to the meaning of 'worker' within UK legislation. Accordingly, the Claimant had no way of circumventing or disapplying regulation 17 of the Part Time Workers Regulations, which provides that individuals acting in a judicial capacity on a daily fee-paid basis were excluded from the regulations. In those circumstances, the part-time chairman was excluded from the definition of 'worker' and his claim was struck out.