European Court of Justice

Latest items of recent news relevant to European Court of Justice as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’. 

European Court of Justice: Dismissal due to inability to work lawful

Where an employee has become disabled during a period of probation, their employer has the obligation to explore alternative areas of work before deciding that the employee be terminated …

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European Court of Justice: ECJ dismisses Hungary and Poland’s complaints over rule-of-law measure

Both Hungary and Poland have been found by the Court to have no case against the EU for tying funds to standards in public life …

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European Court of Justice: EU court strikes down Spain’s order to disclose foreign assets to taxman

The Court has struck down a Spanish law which forces residents to disclose their foreign assets to the tax service …

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European Court of Justice: Overtime bonuses

EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE (ECJ): A collective agreement must take annual leave hours into account when defining the threshold for payment of overtime premia …

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European Court of Justice: Relevant factors when judging whether stand-by time is working time

In yet a further case involving the working time of firefighters, the court has just decided that standby time need not necessarily be treated as a paid working period …

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European Court of Justice: ECJ rules employers can ban religious clothing in workplace

EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE (ECJ): Several cases before the ECJ have sought to test the rights of an employee to wear religious clothing and symbols in the workplace …

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European Court of Justice: CJEU rules Belgian personal income tax calculation infringes EU law

If an employee receives income in one EU Member State that is free of tax in that State does a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) prevent the tax authorities from taxing it in the country of residence – and vice versa? The answer of the ECJ is that the DTA does not protect the individual taxpayer in such circumstances …

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European Court of Justice: Headscarf ruling

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that an employer may ban items worn by employees, such as Muslim headscarves, if they need to present a neutral image towards customers or to prevent social disputes …

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European Court of Justice: ECJ makes ruling on penalties for HGV drivers who don’t provide tachograph record sheets

If a heavy goods vehicle, coach or bus is stopped by traffic inspectors on the roadside and the driver is not able to produce tachograph records for several of the last 29 days do they thus commit an offence for each day a record is missing, or is the failure a single offence with one penalty? In a recent case, the ECJ found that such an event amounted to a single offence, but that the gravity of offence varied according to the number of missing records …

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European Court of Justice: Airline on strike? Not an extraordinary circumstance, rules ECJ

Companies that seek to suspend operations due to strike activity could find that their defence against legal challenge by customers is greatly weakened by a recent ECJ case …

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European Court of Justice: How do multiple contracts with the same employer impact rest period entitlement?

It is a well known corrupt practice, but not one that is every truly policed, for academics to receive multiple grants for work that they undertake at the same time (on top of their normal duties) – even where their employer is the same institution …

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European Court of Justice: Stand-by time & working time

The Court has been called upon from time to time to rule, or offer its views, in cases where workers are required to be either “on-call” or “stand-by” awaiting a work request by their employer …

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European Court of Justice: Right to parental leave may not be made subject to requirement that parent is working at the birth or adoption of their child

The Court has ruled that the parental leave regulations operating in Luxembourg are contrary to European Law and Principle …

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European Court of Justice: Dress codes

Advocate General Rantos has advised the court that employers’ dress codes should be able to distinguish between the wearing of “discreet” and “conspicuous” items, as long as the distinction is justified and not overtly discriminatory …

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European Court of Justice: New VAT burden on company cars?

It has long been at issue whether provision of a company car to an employee gives rise to a Value Added Tax (VAT) charge …

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