It is recognised widely that certain employment rights (for example, the right not to be dismissed unfairly, or the right to a redundancy payment) are available only to “employees”.
However, there is no simple definition or straightforward test as to who is an “employee”. Certainly the name given to a relationship by the parties (in signing, for example, an agreement as a “self employed contractor”) will carry little weight and it is the reality of the relationship between the parties which will help answer the question.
In dealing with an unfair dismissal claim brought by an individual, a Tribunal will sometimes have to consider, as a preliminary matter, whether that individual was in fact an employee of the company.
This is not a straightforward task and involves looking at all the facts and circumstances of the parties’ relationship.
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Caroline Carr or David Hoey