Plumber’s win could flush away gig economy

THE future of the booming gig economy was thrown into doubt yesterday after Britain’s most senior judges said a freelance plumber had the right to be treated in the same way as a full-time worker.

The ruling by five Supreme Court justices, the culmination of a seven-year legal dispute, means Gary Smith can make a claim for holiday and sick pay denied to him by Pimlico Plumbers, the company he once worked for.

It puts a fresh question mark over the status and working rights of tens of thousands of self-employed people working for taxi and delivery firms in the so-called gig economy.

Test cases involving organisations including Uber, Addison Lee and Deliveroo are going through the courts and will further challenge the model by which large numbers of people work without regular employment rights.

Mr Smith, pictured, worked for Pimlico Plumbers for six years, during which he paid VAT as a one-man business and paid tax as self-employed.

But he wore a company uniform, drove a company van with a tracker and carried a company ID card.

In 2011, after suffering a heart attack, he asked the firm if he could work a three-day week. He claimed he was dismissed and his van was taken away, although Pimlico Plumbers denied he was sacked because he wanted to cut his hours.

Mr Smith has won his case at every stage of the court process and will now be able to take his claim for missing pay to an employment tribunal.

Supreme Court justice 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.

‘Its terms enabled the firm to impose fierce conditions on when and how much it paid to him, and to restrict his ability to compete with it for plumbing work following any termination of their relationship.’

Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins said: ‘I will be talking to my lawyers.’