The recent case of Clyde & Co LLP v Jalan [2026] EWHC 403 – a case in which Fox Williams advised the successful party – provides a timely reminder of several core employment law principles that remain highly relevant for UK-employers with staff based abroad.
Employment disputes are typically determined in the jurisdiction where the employee lives and works. This reflects both practical reality and public policy: local courts and tribunals are generally best placed to adjudicate disputes arising from work performed in their territory.
In Clyde & Co v Jalan, Mr Jalan was a corporate lawyer who lived and worked in Dubai. He was employed by a London-based law firm under a complex suite of documents, some of which stated that they were governed by UAE law. Some of those documents also contained a clause which purported to require that any dispute between the parties was to be resolved by arbitration in London.
Following a pay dispute, Mr Jalan commenced proceedings in the Dubai Labour Court under UAE law. Clyde & Co sought an “anti-suit injunction” in an effort to force Mr Jalan to arbitrate the dispute in London rather than pursue his claim in Dubai. The English High Court refused to restrain the Dubai proceedings, with the Judge observing that the London firm could “hardly complain” about the Dubai-based employee litigating in his place of employment in accordance with local law.
For employers, this...
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