After today’s Supreme Court ruling that Uber drivers should be classed as workers and not self-employed the inevitable comparisons with our old case have already started.
For those that need reminding, one of our former plumbers, Gary Smith sued Pimlico for employment rights, including back-dated holiday pay, despite being a self-employed plumbing contractor and signing a contract to that effect and earning more than £500,000 over three years from the company.
During his time with Pimlico Plumbers, he operated as self-employed and was VAT registered. He paid taxes on a self-employed basis, bought his own tools and materials, on which he reclaimed tax, also claiming for an office in his home, chose when he wanted to work, and even employed his wife to carry out secretarial tasks for him and offset that as a business expense.
This included a trip to the Supreme Court where Mr Smith was deemed to … Read the rest