Mrs W Lynch v HELP-LINK UK Ltd — 2019

The tribunal held that Mrs Lynch was neither an employee under section 230 ERA 1996 nor a worker under section 230 ERA 1996 and regulation 2 of the Working Time Regulations 1998. It found that in September 2011 she signed Hudson Contract Services documentation describing the arrangement as self-employed, including terms stating that she had no contract with the client company, could send a substitute, was not obliged to work, could work elsewhere, and would not have employee or worker rights. The tribunal also found that she made representations to HMRC about her self-employed status and remained in the CIS arrangement until January 2015.

The tribunal further found that after an audit in 2014 the claimant was offered direct employment but elected to remain self-employed and signed a January 2015 direct agreement with HELP-LINK UK Ltd. It accepted that the 2015 documents preserved her right to decline work, use a substitute, work for others, and operate without fixed hours or any obligation on the respondent to provide work. On that basis, the tribunal concluded there was no sufficient control, personal service obligation, or mutuality to justify implying a contract of employment.

Because the claimant was not an employee or worker, the unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, and holiday pay deduction claims were dismissed for lack of legal capacity. The tribunal also considered illegality in the alternative and said that, if status had been established, it would not have ruled the 2015 contract unenforceable for illegality.