Ryanair win Belgian employment rights case

[stuart2468]

A Belgian court has ruled that international airlines can treat all staff according to the employment laws of the country in which they is registered, after three former Belgian workers for budget carrier Ryanair this week had their claim for the greater redundancy terms offered by Belgian law thrown out by a court in Mons.

If the employees had won their case, airlines could have faced the nightmare prospect of dealing with different employees under different labour laws. But the Belgian labour court said that it did not have the authority to make a judgment in the Ryanair case as it could not determine the employees' habitual place of work. Although the three workers began and ended their working days in Belgium, they spent the majority of their time in the air.

Ryanair human resources director, Eddie Wilson, said: 'We believe the Belgian court has made a sensible decision. It will help to clarify the position for other airline businesses employing workers on board aircraft that regularly cross jurisdictions.'