Employment status

New and updated

• Date:

  1 January 1978

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Massey v Crown Life Insurance Co

  In Massey v Crown Life Insurance Co [1978] IRLR 31 CA, the Court of Appeal held that, whilst the parties to a contract cannot alter the truth of their relationship by putting a different label upon it, when it is ambiguous as to whether the employment is under a contract of employment or a contract for services, the terms of an agreement between the parties may be decisive as to what is the legal relationship.

• Date:

  31 December 1968

  Type:

  Employment law cases

  Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance

  In Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance [1968] 1 All ER 433 HC, the High Court held that a contract of service existed if three conditions were fulfilled, one of these being that the provisions of the contract should not be inconsistent with its being a contract of service. In this case the rights conferred and the duties imposed by the individual's contract with the company were not such as to make the contract one of service.