Mr. Allaway, representative v Mr. Davies, Managing Director — 2024

The claim form dated 29 April 2022 advanced claims for holiday pay, national minimum wage and a written statement of terms and conditions. The hearing on 19 January 2024 was directed to the preliminary issue of employment status. The tribunal recorded that the claimant responded to an advert for a local property manager role, that the paperwork then referred to a licence or partnership arrangement, and that she set up JD Property Services Management Limited before commencing work.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant was inexperienced in business and that the documentation was confusing, but it found that she knew at the time she entered the arrangement that she was to be self-employed. It held that the contract was between the claimant's service company and the respondents, with the claimant named only as guarantor. On the tribunal's findings, there was no contract between the claimant personally and the respondents, no intention to create an employment relationship or a worker relationship, and the control and integration features relied on by the claimant operated in relation to the company rather than the claimant individually.

Applying section 230 ERA 1996 and the authorities it cited, including Autoclenz, Uber, Catt, Sejpal, Terberg and Quashie, the tribunal concluded that the claimant was neither an employee nor a worker. It therefore had no jurisdiction to hear the claims and dismissed them. No monetary award was made.