Miss Alana Davies v The Old Surgery Dental Practice Ltd and 3 others — 2022

Miss Alana Davies brought claims against The Old Surgery Dental Practice Ltd and others including unfair dismissal, direct and indirect sex discrimination, harassment related to sex, victimisation, unpaid wages and unpaid notice pay. The hearing before Employment Judge Battisby was a preliminary issue on employment status. The tribunal found that she had entered a self-employed associate dentist agreement voluntarily, had negotiated some terms, worked under a BDA model agreement from 6 September 2018, and was not engaged on an employment contract.

The tribunal accepted that the written agreement and the reality of the relationship were aligned. It found the substitution and assignment provisions were genuine, that Miss Davies could work for other practices and did so, and that she paid her own tax and national insurance, held her own indemnity insurance, and carried financial risk in relation to failed treatment. The judge held that administrative arrangements, training days, scrubs, appointment scheduling and performance monitoring reflected the operation of a dental practice and regulatory requirements rather than employee-style control, and that Miss Davies retained complete clinical freedom.

Applying s230(1) and s230(3) ERA 1996 and s83(2) Equality Act 2010, the tribunal concluded that Miss Davies was neither an employee nor a limb (b) worker, and that the client or customer exception applied. The tribunal therefore held that it had no jurisdiction to hear any of the claims. All claims were dismissed and no remedy was awarded.