Claimant v Rushcliffe Borough Council — 2024

This was a preliminary hearing in an appeal against an Improvement Notice. The only issue decided was whether the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applied to the premises subject to the appeal. The tribunal held that it did.

The appellant argued that it was not an employer, that the land was domestic premises, and that the land to be assessed was not in its ownership or control. The tribunal rejected those submissions. It relied in part on the appellant's position in an earlier appeal before Employment Judge Dyal, where the appellant had accepted that it was an employer for the purposes of the legislation.

The tribunal also found that the appellant operated the site as a commercial enterprise for profit, that employees of associated companies were called upon to undertake work there, and that the argument about lack of ownership or control was artificial because the site was leased by the appellant from another group company and the group was controlled by one holding company. The tribunal noted that the merits of the appeal itself would be determined at the final hearing in December 2024.