Can I take my employer to court over my contract even though I work for the House of Lords?

The situation

I have been working as an administrative assistant for the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords in London for about four years now. My employment started back in March 2020, and I have always been happy with my role, but things have become very difficult recently. Since January of this year, my manager has been making comments that suggest my contract might be changed to limit my ability to participate in local community political activities on my weekends. I am worried that if I try to stand for a local council position, I might lose my job or face disciplinary action because of my current employment terms. I have already tried speaking to my supervisor about this during our monthly review in February, but they just told me that my contract takes precedence over my personal interests. I am feeling quite anxious about whether I have any legal recourse here in the UK. Specifically, I need to know if I am actually allowed to bring a claim regarding my employment contract or any related issues to a regular court, like the High Court, or if working for the House of Lords means I am barred from using the normal legal system to protect my rights.

Detailed Analysis

Working for the House of Lords does not prevent you from accessing the regular court system to protect your rights. Because you are employed under a contract with the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords, you are considered a "relevant member of the House of Lords staff"^[1].

The law explicitly protects your right to seek justice in civil courts. Specifically, "Nothing in any rule of law or the law or practice of Parliament prevents a relevant member of the House of Lords staff from bringing before the High Court or the county court — a a claim arising out of or relating to a contract of employment or any other contract connected with employment"^[1]. This means that if you believe your contract is being handled incorrectly or if there is a dispute about your terms, you can take that claim to the High Court or a county court (a local court that handles civil matters like contract disputes).

However, there is a specific limitation regarding your concerns about political activities. The law states that if your contract contains terms that "restrict his right to take part in— a certain political activities"^[1], you may not be able to use certain employment rights to claim time off for those duties. This means that while you can certainly sue to enforce or challenge the terms of your contract in court, the court may uphold those restrictions if they are already written into your valid contract.

Whether you can successfully win a claim regarding your ability to stand for local council depends on whether your current contract actually contains these restrictions and if those restrictions are legally enforceable under the specific circumstances of your role.

Statutory Citations

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