Hall v Lorimer

Hall v Lorimer
Court	Court of Appeal
Citation(s)	[1993] EWCA Civ 25, [1994] IRLR 171
Case opinions
Nolan LJ
Keywords
Contract of employment

Hall v Lorimer [1993] EWCA Civ 25 is a UK labour law case concerning the status of a worker as employed or self-employed. It took the view that an employment contract requires regard to be had to the extent to which the worker is in business on their own account. Because Mr Lorimer took a business-like attitude to finding new clients he was held to be running a self-employed business and not working in a successession of short-term employments.

Facts

Mr Lorimer received £32,875 for his employment and incurred expenses of £9,250. He was a television technician working for 20 separate companies on short term jobs.

Judgment

Nolan LJ held that he was self-employed and could therefore set his expenses off against his income. He said what is partly relevant to employment status is,

the extent to which the individual is dependant or independent of a particular paymaster for the financial exploitation of his talents.

See also

• Contract of employment in English law
• UK labour law
• EU labour law
• US labor law
• German labour law