In Pimlico Plumbers and another v Smith [2018] UKSC 29 (13 June 2018) the Supreme Court held that although Mr Smith was not an employee he was a worker. This gave him some protection for the purposes of employment legislation but he was self-employed for tax purposes.
From 2005 to 2011 Mr Smith a plumbing and heating engineer had worked for Pimlico a substantial plumbing business. Mr Smith had issued proceedings against Pimlico alleging that he was an employee under a contract of service within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996 s 230(1) and that he had been dismissed unfairly. He also contended that he had been a worker within the meaning of s 230(3).
The court first observed that ‘it is conceptually legitimate as well as convenient’ to treat the three decisions of the lower courts in this case...
