The UK Supreme Court ruled today that referees in English football matches can be legally considered employees. The decision requires Professional Group Match Officials Ltd to deduct Income Tax and National Insurance from the referees’ pay.
Andrew Willis is Associate Director of Legal for Croner. He says, “This case represents another in a line of cases that relate to the determinations of employment status. This case shows that tribunals will consider more than what parties call an individual and will use the usual tests for determining status.
The Supreme Court ruled that the requirements for mutuality of obligations and control required for a contract for employment had been met. Therefore, the case has now been remitted to First Tier Tribunal, which will decide whether or not the individual contracts are, in fact, contracts for employment.
It is important that businesses correctly identify their employees’ status because it affects the rights of the individual. A person’s rights could be denied if they are incorrectly labelled.
It’s important that businesses also keep an eye on the law in this area. The new Labour government announced that it plans to hold a consultation in the near future on the possibility of moving to a single worker status. If the plan is implemented, it will mean that we are moving away from the three-tier system, which includes employees, workers and self-employed people, and towards a framework where only workers and those who are truly self-employed can be differentiated.
The first time HR News published the post Supreme Court decision on referee status.
