Mr A Trapp v Reverend P Ashman and 1 other — 2022

The Tribunal first held that Reverend Ashman, the First Respondent, was not the Claimant's employer and removed him from the proceedings. It found that the relevant contracting party was the Parochial Parish Council, and that the Claimant had long understood himself to be self-employed in the role of Director of Music at St John the Baptist Church Weston Super Mare.

Applying the status authorities it cited, including Ready Mixed Concrete, Hall (Inspector of Taxes) v Lorimer, Express and Echo Publications Ltd v Tanton and Quashie v Stringfellow Restaurants Ltd, the Tribunal concluded that the overall picture pointed to self-employment rather than a contract of service. It accepted that the Claimant provided significant skill and worked under some practical constraints, but found there was little control by the Rector over how he performed the role, and that he retained a real ability to arrange substitutes for absences.

The Tribunal placed weight on the parties' long-running conduct from 2008 onwards. The Claimant submitted tax returns as self-employed, claimed expenses, and continued to arrange and pay substitute organists for many absences, including for an extended period after his 2018 road traffic accident, while the Church continued to pay him the agreed monthly sum. Although some features pointed towards employment, such as monthly instalments and the Church paying substitutes for a limited number of services each year, the Tribunal found those factors did not outweigh the parties' conduct and the Claimant's own treatment of the relationship as self-employed.

On that basis, the Tribunal held the Claimant was not an employee within section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It therefore had no jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal claim, which was dismissed. No monetary award was made.