Contract - Incorporation of Collectively Agreed Terms

[Thanks to James English of Samuel Phillips solicitors for preparing this case summary]

Did an employee have a contractual right to job evaluation based on a collective agreement?

No, says the EAT in Simpson v Hackney & Others.

The Claimant was employed as a teaching assistant by the London Borough of Hackney on the national pay scale.  She made a verbal request for a job evaluation in February 2005 and a written request in May 2006.  She was eventually upgraded following a local job evaluation process agreed between the unions and management in December 2008.  Throughout this time, her work was unchanged.

The Claimant's argument that she had a contractual right to job evaluation based on two collective agreements (the 'Green Book' and the 'Gold Book') was rejected.  Following NCB v NUM and Marley v Forward Trust Group Ltd, HHJ McMullen QC held that the relevant terms were not apt for incorporation.  Upholding the employment tribunal's decision on this point, he stated that whilst both the Green Book and the Gold Book had sections on pay, for example, that could be enforced, the provisions on the job evaluation process came under the joint advice sections, and so were not legally binding.