Beyond employment law?

Like buses interesting problems seem to come along in three’s. My second issue arose when I was asked to give some guidance on the dividing line between an employee and partner. I realised that although I knew the basic principles as to employed/self-employed I did not actually know how it had been applied to partners.

To my aid came the recent EAT case of Kovats. This is interesting because it sets up a two stage test in determining employment status. The first stage is to ask whether the person is or is not a partner (note no direct comparison with employment status or any other status – see Section 4(4) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000. Only once it has been determined that the person is not a partner do you then go on to decide what that person’s status is applying the usual Ready Mix Concrete test.

Spending one’s whole working life looking at employment law does sometimes lead you to believe that all areas of law are subject to the same jurisprudence and subservient to what must be the right way, the employment law way. This case is a timely reminder that there is more law out there!

I shall deal with the third case in a few weeks time – it will deal with the ‘likely’ issue (see earlier posts) which has now been determined by the House of Lords!

Peter D

KOVATS V TIFO MANAGEMENT LLP & THE FAMILY GROUP OF COMPANIES UKEAT 0357/08

http://www.employmentappeals.gov.uk/Public/Upload/08_0357rjfhLBZT.doc