Ms C. Page For the v Dr D. Crilly — 2025

The Claimant, an actor who performed at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival in 2024 without payment, brought several complaints which all depended on her being a worker within the meaning of section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The Respondents organised the Festival, which has run annually since 1988, and contended that the Claimant's participation was entirely voluntary. The Tribunal noted a previous Tribunal decision involving different actors at the 2022 Festival had reached the opposite conclusion, but found good reason to depart from it as it was not binding.

Employment Judge Hunt found that, although certain factors such as artistic direction, expected personal performance, rehearsal and performance attendance, and the scale of the Festival's approximately £250,000 budget could point toward a worker relationship, none of these factors individually or cumulatively outweighed the absence of any expectation of remuneration. The Judge concluded that the parties did not intend to create legal relations amounting to a contract for work or services, since such a contract requires the parties to have anticipated a wage, which was not the case here.

The Claimant accepted that all of her complaints depended on her being considered a worker. As the Tribunal found she was not a worker, the entirety of her claim was dismissed.