Tribunal on Hairdressers Status

Today an Employment Tribunal in Manchester issued its judgement on a claim for holiday, sickness and redundancy payments. The case of Gorman v Terence Paul (Manchester) Ltd 2410722/2019 (16 July 2020) centred on whether the claimant, a hairdresser, should be classified as an “employee” rather than, as contested by the respondent, self-employed.  Employment Judge Batten stated (at para. 50):

“In all the circumstances, the Tribunal concluded that the relationship between the parties was that the claimant was an employee of the respondent.  The tests of employee status are clearly made out.  The written contract does not reflect the reality of the working arrangements in practice, save in respect of the requirement for the claimant to keep her own accounts and attend to taxation, about which the claimant had no choice.”

The issues raised within this case closely reflect matters to be considered by the Supreme Court in Uber BV & Others v Aslam & Others UKSC 2019/0029. It is unclear whether Terence Paul (Manchester) Ltd will appeal this decision.