Employment rights of workers in the gig economy have been boosted after a heating engineer won his claim against Pimlico Plumbers at the supreme court, establishing that he was a worker and not self-employed.The supreme court’s unanimous judgment is likely to set a significant precedent for a series of protracted legal battles, such as those involving the cab firms Uber and Addison Lee, which are in dispute with their drivers over their employment status.Pimlico Plumbers, which lost at every stage of the dispute, had appealed to the UK’s highest court, arguing that those it sent out to repair leaking pipes and malfunctioning dishwashers were self-employed and not “workers”. Workers do not enjoy the full range of employment protection rights given to full-time staff but are entitled to many elements such as holiday pay.The claim was brought by Gary Smith, from Kent, who worked for Pimlico Plumbers as a plumber and heating engineer for six years until 2011, when he suffered a heart attack. He claimed his subsequent request for a three-day week was rejected, the Pimlico Plumbers van he rented was taken away, and he was dismissed. The firm disputed Smith’s assertion that he was sacked because he wanted to work fewer days. Delivering judgment, on Wednesday, Lord Wilson said: “Although the contract did provide him with elements of operational and financial independence, Mr Smith’s services to the company’s customers were marketed through the company.“More importantly, its term enabled the company to exercise tight administrative control over him during his periods of work for it; to impose fierce conditions on when and how much it paid to him, which were described at one point as his wages; and to restrict his ability to compete with it for plumbing work following any termination of their relationship.“We hold that the [employment] tribunal was entitled to conclude that the company cannot be regarded as a client or customer of Mr Smith.” Smith’s application for compensation will be reconsidered by the lower court. Some aspects of Smith’s conditions resembled self-employment, such as the entitlement to refuse work, the judgment said, but others “betrayed a grip on his economy inconsistent with his being a truly independent contractor”. These included the fact that he wore a branded uniform, had a tracker in his branded van and carried an identity card. Outside the court, Charlie Mullins, the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, said he was considering taking an appeal against the decision to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. “It’s not over yet,” Mullins said. “We are going to take it to the next stage if we can and prove this chap was self-employed. At the worst, we will go back to the tribunal and fight it. Around 4.8 million subcontractors in the UK will be affected by this decision. The government needs to step in and provide clarity to the employment laws.” Smith said he was pleased with the outcome. “It’s a great weight off my shoulders. It’s been like carrying around a giant rucksack” he said. “I will celebrate with a stiff drink. It feels good. It’s been an arduous seven-year battle. I’m now a properly self-employed plumber.” The Equality and Human Rights Commission has funded Smith’s case since 2015. Its chief executive, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said: “If you wear the uniform, if you drive the branded vehicle, if you only work for one business, you are employed. That means you are entitled to the appropriate protections and adjustments which go with the job, to enable you to work safely and productively. Thousands of workers like Gary Smith could now find themselves with the added security of benefits like sick pay and holiday pay.” Jason Moyer-Lee, general secretary of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), said: “The problem of employment rights in the so-called gig-economy is not confusion in the law but rather companies who think the law need not be obeyed. Pimlico Plumbers lost its argument over worker status four times in a row. We now need the government to start actively enforcing the law rather than playing the role of useless bystander.” The TUC’s general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “This case has exposed how widely sham self-employment has spread. Bad employers are using every trick in the book to deny staff basic rights. It’s time to end the Wild West in the gig economy. The government must get tough on rogue bosses and give unions the right to organise in more workplaces.” The shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, said: “This is a landmark victory for workers who have had enough of precarious conditions. Pimlico Plumbers and companies like it must put an immediate end to exploitative practices and ensure that their workers have full access to their legal rights, such as the minimum wage and sick pay.” But Susannah Kintish, an employment specialist at the law firm Mishcon de Reya, who represented Mullins, said: “All eyes will be on the government as businesses await legislation on how to categorise their workforce – something which could still be a matter of years away. The supreme court justices have made it clear that this judgment is very specific to the unique facts of the case.”
The UK supreme court has unanimously decided in favour of a heating engineer for the company Pimlico Plumbers, who argued that he was a worker and not self-employed. The ruling will establish a clear precedent for other disputes involving the gig economy, and could influence the outcome of ongoing disputes over the employment status of drivers for Uber and Addison Lee. In its judgement, delivered on Monday, the high court said it had been “struck by the fact that, despite being self-employed contractors, both Mr Justice Mann and Ms Justice Edwards were employed as employees at Pimlico Plum@@ Pimlico Plumbers rejected Smith’s request to work a three-day week and dismissed him.