Employment Terms - 'Self Employed' Or 'Employed'

In a recent case the Court of Appeal decided that a group of 20 car valeters who were employed under terms and conditions by which they professed to be 'self-employed' were, in reality, 'employees'.

The valeters' contracts consisted of terms including that they could supply suitably qualified substitutes to carry out the valeting on their behalf, and that there was no obligation upon the company to provide them with work, or upon the valeters to accept it. The valeters lodged claims in the tribunal seeking a declaration that they were workers or employees and therefore entitled to holiday pay and other benefits.

The tribunal initially held in favour of the valeters, holding that their contracts did not reflect the reality of the situation, but the EAT subsequently reversed the tribunal's decision in favour of the company, holding that before the tribunal could find that a term of a contract was a sham, it had to be shown that both parties intended the contract to