The test for employees working abroad to be eligible to claim unfair dismissal in Great Britain is whether there is a much stronger connection, not only to Great Britain, but to British employment law, than with any other territory. The EAT has recently emphasised that this question should be considered from first principles, rather than trying to fit the facts into previous decisions.
A German national married to a British solider and working in a play centre on a British army base in Germany was held ineligible. In reaching this view, it was relevant that she was not a British citizen, she was not employed by the Crown, government or army, the nursery was on the part of the base accessible to everyone (and so not a wholly British enclave), her job was not confined to dependents of serving soldiers, and her employment contract was governed by German law. These factors distinguished her position from the wives in Wallis v Ministry of Defence. (Rogers v Deputy Commander)
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