equality act

Are LCC’s protected under the Equality Act? It is common in many industry sectors for workers to work through a Limited Liability Company (or Personal Service Company).

In a recent case at an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) – Halawi v WDFG UK Ltd – the Judges considered whether a Limited Liability Company (LLC) Contractor was protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
We give you all the details in our article here.

Briefly…. Halawi worked airside at Heathrow airport as a beauty consultant selling Shiseido cosmetics. She set up an LLC that contracted with management agency CSA, who provided her services (and others) to Shiseido’s shop in a Heathrow terminal. The Shiseido shop was managed by a company called World Duty Free. World Duty Free arranged Halawi’s airside pass and when they withdrew it, so she could no longer work airside, she brought discrimination claims against World Duty Free and CSA.

The Tribunal accepted that Halawi was not employed under a contract of employment or an apprenticeship contract and therefore needed to show that she was employed under a contract ‘personally to do work’.

Halawi could change or withdraw from her shifts, send a substitute to work her shifts and had done this. She had no entitlement to sick pay or holiday pay. The original tribunal decided she had no contractual relationship with CSA because her contract with CSA was through her LCC and not her as an individual. They also decided there was no contractual relationship between the claimant or her LCC and World Duty Free………….. but