EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 8002653/2025 Held in Edinburgh on and March 2026 Employment Judge M A Macleod Ms Jade Harris v Vets Now Emergency Ltd — 2026

Ms Jade Harris's unfair dismissal claim was dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The Tribunal found that she was a self-employed contractor of Vets Now Emergency Limited and was neither an employee nor a worker within section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It therefore did not determine whether she had the two years' continuous service required by section 108(1).

The Tribunal considered the written Contract for Services and the working arrangements in practice. It found that there was no mutuality of obligation: Ms Harris could accept, refuse or cancel shifts without penalty, negotiate the rate for particular shifts, and work for other organisations. She was paid only for shifts worked, received no sick pay, was not subject to the respondent's performance-management or line-management processes, and retained professional freedom in performing her duties subject to applicable standards. The respondent exercised very little control over her working weeks.

The Tribunal also considered factors inconsistent with self-employment, including payment through PAYE, rolled-up holiday pay, some regularity and personal service, and a contractual substitution provision which did not reflect the arrangements in practice. Considering the relationship as a whole, it found that those factors did not outweigh the lack of mutuality of obligation and Ms Harris's freedom to arrange her work. No remedy was awarded.