Definition of employees

Case 3: The facts

Mr Shaikh and Mr Banerjee were appointed as part-time chairs to sit on social security appeals tribunals. Their appointments were not renewed and they sought to bring a tribunal claim. To do this they had to show that they were employees.

The ruling

The EAT held that they were not employees. There was no control or direction over their work, and no mutuality of obligations: the tribunal service was not obliged to provide them with work, and they were not obliged to do the work.

However, the EAT also held that its ruling did not mean that office holders could never be employees. There could be situations where a person was both a statutory office holder and an employee, just as a director of a company may also be an employee of that company.

Shaikh and Banerjee v Independent Tribunal Service EAT/0656/03