The Labour Court found that Mr John Read was an employee of Speedking Couriers Limited T/A Fastway Couriers Midlands and awarded him €3,800 for unfair dismissal. The determination was signed on 8 February 2022.
The appeal followed an Adjudication Officer’s finding that Mr Read had not been unfairly dismissed. The company said he was an independent contractor temporarily engaged while a franchise route awaited sale. Mr Read argued that he provided personal service, worked long hours on routes set by the company and could not realistically take other work.
The Court found that the company controlled how he worked, required personal service and had integrated his work into its core courier business. It concluded that he was employed under a contract of service and that his dismissal was unfair because the company had ended his employment without procedures. The Court limited compensation to four weeks’ gross pay after finding the evidence of loss and efforts to find other work unsatisfactory.