Worker rights for Foster Carers: Rachel Crasnow KC and Chris Milsom act in landmark litigation
Written by Cloisters
Rachel Crasnow KC and Chris Milsom are acting in test litigation seeking to secure worker rights for three foster carers and thousands like them. The claimants assert that they work under a contract whether as employees or as workers. These claims are the first occasion on which the decision of the Court of Appeal in W v Essex County Council [1998] 3 WLR 534 that foster carers do not work under contracts has been visited since the Supreme Court’s guidance on worker status in Uber v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5.
Alternatively, they argue that the denial of fundamental rights such as freedom from discrimination, whistleblowing and holiday pay amounts to unjustified Article 14 discrimination in the enjoyment of Convention rights which should be rectified insofar as the ET can possibly do so.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission support the claimants in this ongoing litigation of public importance.