Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978

Excluded classes of employmentU.K.

141 Employment outside Great Britain.E+W+S

(1)Sections 1 to 4 and 49 to 51 do not apply in relation to employment during any period when the employee is engaged in work wholly or mainly outside Great Britain unless the employee ordinarily works in Great Britain and the work outside Great Britain is for the same employer.

(2)Sections 8 and 53 and Parts II, III, [F1and V] do not apply to employment where under his contract of employment the employee ordinarily works outside Great Britain.

[F2(2)(A)Part VII does not apply to employment where under his contract of employment the employee ordinarily works outside the territory of the Member States of the European Communities.]

(3)An employee shall not be entitled to a redundancy payment if on the relevant date he is outside Great Britain, unless under his contract of employment he ordinarily worked in Great Britain.

(4)An employee who under his contract of employment ordinarily works outside Great Britain shall not be entitled to a redundancy payment unless on the relevant date he is in Great Britain in accordance with instruction given to him by his employer.

(5)For the purpose of subsection (2), a person employed to work on board a ship registered in the United Kingdom (not being a ship registered at a port outside Great Britain) shall, unless—

(a)the employment is wholly outside Great Britain, or

(b)he is not ordinarily resident in Great Britain,

be regarded as a person who under his contract ordinarily works in Great Britain.

142 Contracts for a fixed term.E+W+S

(1)Section 54 does not apply to dismissal from employment under a contract for a fixed term of [F3one year] or more, where the dismissal consists only of the expiry of that term without its being renewed, if before the term so expires the employee has agreed in writing to exclude any claim in respect of rights under that section in relation to that contract.

(2)An employee employed under a contract of employment for a fixed term of two years or more entered into after 5th December 1965 shall not be entitled to a redundancy payment in respect of the expiry of that term without its being renewed (whether by the employer or by an associated employer of his), if before the term so expires he has agreed in writing to exclude any right to a redundancy payment in that event.

(3)Such an agreement as is mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) may be contained either in the contract itself or in a separate agreement.

(4)Where an agreement under subsection (2) is made during the currency of a fixed term, and that term is renewed, the agreement under that subsection shall not be construed as applying to the term as renewed, but without prejudice to the making of a further agreement under that subsection in relation to the term so renewed.

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144 Mariners.E+W+S

(1)Sections 1 to 6 and 49 to 51 do not apply to—

(a)a person employed as a master of or a seaman on a sea-going British ship having a gross registered tonnage of eighty tons or more, including a person ordinarily employed as a seaman who is employed in or about such a ship in port by the owner or charterer of the ship to do work of a kind ordinarily done by a seaman on such a ship while it is in port, or

(b)a person employed as a skipper of or a seaman on a fishing boat for the time being [F5registered under Part II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988].

(2)Sections 8 and 53 and Parts II, III and V to VII do not apply to employment as master or as a member of the crew of a fishing vessel where the employee is remunerated only by a share in the profits or gross earnings of the vessel.

(3)Section 141(3) and (4) do not apply to an employee, and section 142(2) does not apply to a contract of employment, if the employee is employed as a master or seaman in a British ship and is ordinarily resident in Great Britain.

(4)Sections 8, 29, 31, 122 and 123 do not apply to employment as a merchant seaman.

(5)Employment as a merchant seaman does not include employment in the fishing industry or employment on board a ship otherwise than by the owner, manager or charterer of that ship except employment as a radio officer, but, save as aforesaid, it includes employment as master or a member of the crew of any ship and as a trainee undergoing training for the sea service, and employment in or about a ship in port by the owner, manager or charterer of the ship to do work of the kind ordinarily done by a merchant seaman on a ship while it is in port.

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146 Miscellaneous classes of employment.E+W+S

(1)

F7(2)Parts II, III, [F8and V] and sections 8, 9, 53 and 86 do not apply to employment under a contract of employment in police service or to persons engaged in such employment.

(3)In subsection (2), “police service” means service—

(a)as a member of any constabulary maintained by virtue of any enactment, or

(b)in any other capacity by virtue of which a person has the powers of privileges of a constable.

(4)Subject to subsections (5), (6) and (7), the following provisions of this Act (which confer rights which do not depend upon an employee having a qualifying period of continuous employment) do not apply to employment under a contract which normally involves employment for less than sixteen hours weekly, that is to say, sections [F91, 4,] 8 F10. . . and 29.

(5)If the employee’s relations with his employer cease to be governed by a contract which normally involves work for sixteen hours or more weekly and become governed by a contract which normally involves employment for eight hours or more, but less than sixteen hours, weekly, the employee shall nevertheless for a period of twenty-six weeks, computed in accordance with subsection (6), be treated for the purposes of subsection (4) as if his contract normally involved employment for sixteen hours or more weekly.

(6)In computing the said period of twenty-six weeks no account shall be taken of any week—

(a)during which the employee is in fact employed for sixteen hours or more;

(b)during which the employee takes part in a strike (as defined by paragraph 24 of Schedule 13) or is absent from work because of a lock-out (as so defined) by his employer; or

(c)during which there is no contract of employment but which, by virtue of paragraph 9(1) of Schedule 13, counts in computing a period of continuous employment.

(7)An employee whose relations with his employer are governed by a contract of employment which normally involves employment for eight hours or more, but less than sixteen hours, weekly shall nevertheless, if he has been continuously employed for a period of five years or more be treated for the purposes of subsection (4) as if his contract normally involved employment for sixteen hours or more weekly.

[F11(8)References in subsections (4) to (7) to weeks are to weeks within the meaning of Schedule 13.]

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