No contract with temp

James v London Borough of Greenwich [2008] EWCA Civ 35

The defendant council provided work for the claimant for several years as a temporary worker under contract, which she and the council had entered with an employment agency. After she had worked in this way for several years, her position was filled by someone else during the period when she was ill, after which she was not invited back. She contended there was an implied contract of employment between herself and the council. Rejecting her claim, the Court of Appeal held that the mere passage of time did not generate a legal obligation on the part of the council to provide her with work any more than it generated a legal obligation on her to do the work. The provision of work by the council, its payments to the employment agency and the performance of work by the claimant were all explained by their respective express contracts with the employment agency, so it was not necessary to imply the existence of another contract in order to give business reality to the relationship between the parties.