Partner Article

Pimlico case could impact Hampshire businesses

As yet another high profile court case rules in favour of a self employed worker, Simon Rhodes, senior partner and head of employment at Trethowans explains how the result could have implications on businesses in Hampshire.

Last week a plumber working for Pimlico Plumbers won a legal battle for working rights in a court ruling at The Court of Appeal. Gary Smith, who was self employed but worked solely for Pimlico Plumbers for six years, wanted to reduce his working days with the plumbing firm after a heart attack.

The firm refused and Mr Smith claimed that he was dismissed. However, The Court of Appeal ruled that he was entitled to basic workers’ rights even though they believed that he was technically self-employed.

Simon Rhodes from Trethowans said the result could impact Hampshire businesses in similar situations.

He said: “The people working for you, or providing services personally for you could be an employee, a worker or self-employed. Those are the only legal categories. There are confusingly different definitions of employee depending on which laws you are dealing with, but they are the three main categories.

“Other titles bandied around like zero-hours workers, freelancer and consultant are effectively all nicknames, given for convenience. Those people still have to be either an employee, a worker or self-employed. It matters because each one has different rights, for example, unfair dismissal and redundancy entitlements only apply to employees.

“Employers need to making sure that the reality of the relationship, the documentation and the tax position all line up together. That’s not always easy, but if employers don’t get it right, then one of their people may take them to an Employment Tribunal to ask for clarification. “Some employees and workers are being treated as self-employed to avoid giving holiday pay or paying the national minimum wage. Whilst that’s the situation, more cases like this are bound to follow.

“At a time when companies are facing a real battle for talent, as well as pressure from consumers to be ethical employers, it’s so important that businesses treat all their staff fairly. Our advice would be to review the status of every person doing work for you and make sure their correct status is very clear in the contract and other documentation you enter into with them.”

To find out more about Trethowans visit www.trethowans.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Trethowans .