Employment Briefing - September 2011

Employees or self employed? Intention irrelevant

The Supreme Court in Autoclenz v Belcher upheld the Court of Appeal's decision that car valeters, described as self employed – and found to be self employed by the Inland Revenue – were, on the facts, actually employees of Autoclenz.

This case is interesting because the contractual documentation clearly pointed to self employment and the Inland Revenue had confirmed this status. In the two documents which comprised the contract of employment, the valeters signed a confirmation that they were self employed and that their tax affairs were handled under Schedule D. A substitution clause was later included so that if the valeter could not carry out the work, a substitute could be provided. The contract provided that valeters had to purchase from Autoclenz protective overalls which identified them as contractors of Autoclenz and had to provide their own cleaning materials. The documentation also stated ' you will not be