Mr T Irons v 3Tone Music Ltd — 2024

The tribunal found that Mr T Irons became an employee of 3Tone Music Ltd when he came to the United Kingdom on 15 January 2023 and remained so until the relationship ended on 25 November 2023. It accepted contemporaneous emails and WhatsApp messages showing that, before he moved, the parties had discussed a year-long arrangement, a contract, and payment at a rate equivalent to £30,000 per year. The tribunal rejected the respondent's case that no employment or work relationship existed.

Applying Ready Mixed Concrete, Stephenson and Carmichael, the tribunal held that there was a contract of employment with sufficient mutuality of obligation and control. It found that Mr Irons was expected to provide musical, producer and engineering services, that equipment was provided at the respondent's expense, that he was not in business on his own account, and that he was subject to the respondent's control over his expenses. It also found that he took no annual leave because he was unaware he could do so and was not allowed to take paid leave.

The tribunal accepted that the respondent had paid £11,923.33 over the period, but found that £615.11 of that sum was not remuneration and instead related to business expenses incurred on the respondent's behalf. After crediting £11,308.22 against the agreed annual salary, it ordered payment of £13,691.78 for unauthorised deductions from wages. It also held that the respondent could not set off accommodation, studio and equipment costs in the absence of a written contractual basis, and it upheld the breach of contract claim arising from the 12 April 2023 written agreement for the parting fee, moving invoice, moving costs and storage costs. The judgment section orders £2,692.71 for holiday pay and the total award was £20,716.30.