The Labour Court overturned a decision granting Fidelma Mulligan a redundancy payment after St John of God Community Service CLG appealed. Its determination was dated 16 October 2020.
Mulligan worked first as a social care worker and later as a drama therapist. The employer argued that she became an independent contractor in the teaching role; she said managers set her hours and approved time off, and that nobody discussed a change in her employment status.
The Court found the evidence about control, hours, equipment and financial risk unclear. Her work email and telephone favoured her case, but she invoiced the employer, was classified as self-employed for tax and social welfare, was not on its payroll and received no sick or annual leave pay.
On the balance of probabilities, the Court found Mulligan had been an independent contractor since taking up the teaching role. Her redundancy claim failed, and the Adjudication Officer’s decision was overturned.