Mr T Sodipo v My Locum — 2020

The claimant, Mr T Sodipo, registered with My Locum in May 2017 to provide healthcare assistant services to NHS Trust hospitals. He accepted shifts on an assignment-by-assignment basis, could refuse work offered to him, and was not supervised by the respondent while on shift. The tribunal found he was not an employee, but was a worker and, on the facts, an agency worker for the respondent.

The main complaint under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 was that he had not been paid a flat rate for whole night shifts. The tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that the rates applied reflected the NHS London Procurement Partnership framework, including different rates for day, night, Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday hours, and that the claimant had been told about the pay structure. It held that the claimant failed to show any breach of NHS terms or any contractual term requiring a single flat rate for the whole shift.

The claimant also said he had been forced to use IPS Countrywide and that the respondent should refund deductions made by that umbrella company. The tribunal found that the claimant chose whether to work through IPS, Elite Management & Consultancy, or on a PAYE basis, and that there was no evidence of compulsion or coercion by the respondent. It found that the respondent had no control over the fees charged by IPS and was not responsible for the deductions made from the claimant's pay.

The claims were therefore dismissed in full. The tribunal made no monetary award.