Michelle Appiah v Tripod Partners Ltd and 1 other — 2024

The Claimant worked as an independent social worker on Home Office age assessment work, placed through Tripod Partners Ltd and paid via a personal service company after the Home Office assessed the assignment as inside IR35. She accepted that income tax and employee National Insurance could be deducted, but claimed that deductions for employer's National Insurance and Apprenticeship Levy were unauthorised deductions from wages.

The tribunal found that the Claimant was a worker for the purposes of section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It rejected the argument that the arrangement was purely business-to-business, noting that the personal service company was a payment vehicle, that the Claimant worked personally and full time on the assignment, and that the written contract did not reflect the practical reality of the relationship.

The tribunal held that Tripod Partners Ltd, as the deemed employer for IR35 purposes, had not shown any statutory provision, contractual term, or written consent permitting it to deduct employer's National Insurance from the Claimant's wages. It also accepted that Apprenticeship Levy should not have been deducted. The claim against the Home Office was struck out because the Home Office had not paid the Claimant and was not liable to pay her.