Some of you may be lucky enough to send someone else to the office for you if the thought of work does not take your fancy on a Monday morning but this does not necessarily help if you have an employment issue.

In the recent case of Community Dental Centres Ltd v Sultan-Darmon a dentist brought a claim for unlawful deductions. At first instance the Employment Tribunal found that the Claimant was not an employee but he was a worker. On appeal the EAT held that the fact that the Claimant had a right of substitution meant that he was not obliged to personally perform any work or services so therefore was not a worker. The claim was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

Employment status is a particularly ambiguous area of employment law. It often comes down to careful analysis of case law and unfortunately pot luck on how the Employment judge interprets the law on the day.  What is clear from this case however is that a right of substitution is likely to defeat a claim around whether you are an employee or a worker.

Katie Phillips