Upcoming EU ruling could have major impact on Ryanair
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will issue a judgment on Thursday which will determine if Irish employment law should apply in all labour issues involving Ryanair staff regardless of in which country they are based. It follows a legal action by a group of six airline workers who had employment contracts with Ryanair and Crewlink, a company which recruits cabin crew for the airline.
The contracts stipulate that the employees’ services were to be regarded as being provided in Ireland as their duties were primarily carried out on board Ryanair aircraft which are registered in the Republic and consequently subject to Irish law. However, the contracts also designated the airport in Belgium’s Charleroi — a Ryanair hub — as the employees’ “home base”. In 2011 the workers lodged a number of claims with a labour tribunal in Charleroi which ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. The airline staff argued that Belgian courts were entitled to hear their claim.
