In a recent decision, handed down in case C-485/24, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that, in order to determine the law applicable to a labour dispute, the relevant criterion is the actual place of work at the time the dispute arises, even if the parties agreed on the application of another law to the employment relationship when the individual employment contract was concluded.
In the case under consideration by the CJEU, the employee had concluded an individual employment contract with a Luxembourg company for the purpose of carrying out transport activities in several Member States of the European Union, the contract being governed, according to its terms, by Luxembourg law. However, at the time of the dispute between the driver and the Luxembourg employer concerning the termination of the employment contract, the employee had carried out most of his work in France during the previous 18 months and was also affiliated with the French social security system. In this context, the CJEU held that, although, according to the parties’ intention, the individual employment contract was governed by Luxembourg law, the employment relationship had closer links with France than with Luxembourg, at the time of the dispute. Therefore, when the actual place of work changes and the activity is predominantly carried out in another state, the national court must take into account the law of that state when resolving the labour dispute.