The Appellants were employed for 6-25 years by the first Respondent but placed by them to work as agency workers at the premises, and under the supervision, of the second Respondent or its predecessor. The Appellants sought to argue that they qualified for protection under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 and should be paid the same as equivalent permanent workers at Celanese Acetate Ltd.

The workers' contracts were open-ended and they were all long-term placements. The EAT has decided that a contract cannot be "temporary" if it has an open-ended duration period. To be covered by the legislation a temporary contract must be terminable by some other condition expiring e.g. the ending of a fixed term or completion of