Will WRC ruling on fiddler in band spark a rush of cases from the gig economy?

When the Supreme Court ruled last year that a group of Domino’s Pizza drivers were company employees rather than independent contractors, lawyers said the judgment could have far-reaching implications elsewhere in the “gig” economy.
Now the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has drawn on the Supreme Court judgment to award almost €44,000 to the long-time fiddler in the Michael English Band for unfair dismissal and other employment breaches. The WRC found Matt McGranaghan was an employee of the company behind the band – MEPC Music Ltd – and not a contractor.
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The gig economy is shorthand for a labour market dominated by short-term contracts, freelance work or temporary assignments, as opposed to permanent work.
The employers’ advantage is that paid holidays, pensions or other employment benefits are not required. Critics say this leaves gig workers in a precarious state, with poorer pay and fewer rights than staff in formal jobs. The Revenue and Department of Social Protection frown on cases of bogus self-employment, where contingent workers are wrongly classed as contractors and not employees.
Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) data compiled in 2018 for the WRC found 200,000 people were then in non-permanent jobs. The same research found workers in contingent employment received about 20 per cent less than people doing similar work in permanent jobs.
The WRC ruling is a big victory for Mr McGranaghan, who has worked separately with singers Dolores Keane, Nathan Carter and Mary Black. It is a costly one for MEPC Music, whose directors include country music holiday promoter Paul Claffey. Despite appearing with the band in more than 1,000 performances over eight years, Mr McGranaghan was dismissed by email from Mr Claffey.
The fiddle player will receive €43,840 on foot of his complaints.
The question now is whether this ruling by WRC adjudicator Caroline Reidy heralds a rush of cases in light of the Supreme Court decision. It may be too early to say, although her ruling was notable for directly applying the Supreme Court judgment in Mr McGranaghan’s favour.
“Since the Supreme Court decision we were waiting for the floodgates to open,” said employment law specialist solicitor Anne O’Connell. “The [WRC] decisions would only start coming out now and some cases won’t even have been heard yet that have been lodged after the Supreme Court decision.”
The court laid down five tests to resolve the question of whether a worker should be deemed an employee or a contractor. These include the question of whether the employer exercised sufficient control over the putative employee to render the arrangement capable of being an employment agreement. Mr McGranaghan was found to be an employee under each test. “I have found him to be an employee in practice based on the arrangement in place,” Reidy said.
Ms O’Connell said the decision may lead workers and employers to revisit informal arrangements: “Anybody who is on a business relationship with contractors or self-employed workers should review the arrangements they have in place while relations are good to minimise any future risks.”
Workers who wished to remain contractors may need to establish limited companies to give greater legal force to such arrangements, Ms O’Connell added. “Otherwise people may not to want to engage them because they’d be taking on a risk.”