Mr A Parker v Alpha Fire and Air Solutions Limited — 2023

The claimant, Mr A Parker, brought a claim for unauthorised deductions from wages against Alpha Fire and Air Solutions Limited. The tribunal identified two issues: whether he was a worker within s.230 ERA 1996 and, if so, whether he had suffered unlawful deductions from wages. The tribunal set out the relevant statutory provisions and authorities on worker status and unpaid wages, including Uber BV v Aslam, New Century Cleaning Co Ltd v Church, and Greg May (Carpet Fitters and Contractors) Ltd v Dring.

On the facts, the tribunal found that Mr Parker was registered as self-employed, had been engaged as a subcontractor on a cinema project, was free to work elsewhere when not on that site, and was paid for work done rather than a wage irrespective of output. It accepted the respondent's evidence that payment was made by reference to the Bolster system rather than the hours sheet signed on site, and that the respondent deducted CIS tax at 20% as required by law. The tribunal held that the respondent was a client of the claimant's profession and that the relationship was at arm's length, so Mr Parker was not a worker for the purposes of s.13 ERA 1996.

Because he was not a worker, the tribunal found it had no jurisdiction to hear the unlawful deductions claim and dismissed it. The tribunal went on to say that, even if jurisdiction had existed, the claimant had not discharged the burden of proving that he was underpaid, because no Bolster records were before the tribunal and the claimant had not shown that he had suffered unauthorised deductions.