Mrs J Murray v London Borough of Lewisham — 2020

The claimant was a Shared Lives Carer with the respondent from 1996 until 2017. She brought complaints including unfair dismissal, race discrimination, redundancy payment, notice pay, holiday pay and arrears of pay after placements in her home ended and her approval as a Shared Lives Carer was removed. The respondent denied the claims and argued that the tribunal had no jurisdiction because the claimant was not an employee or worker and the claims were out of time.

The tribunal held that the Shared Lives arrangement was governed by a statutory and regulatory framework and that Shared Lives agreements were not contracts for the purposes required by the statutory employment claims. It relied by analogy on foster carer authorities and on the wording of the Health and Social Care regulated activities regulations, which refer to Shared Lives arrangements as being otherwise than under a contract.

For completeness, the tribunal also found that the claimant was not an employee or worker. It found no overarching mutuality of obligation, that the respondent's control arose from the statutory care regime rather than an employment relationship, that the payment was a fee rather than wages, that the claimant was not integrated into the respondent's workforce, and that she could undertake outside work. It also found that personal service was not required because care could be provided by her husband or approved third parties, including during respite. The tribunal therefore found no jurisdiction to hear the claim and dismissed it without deciding the time limit issue.