A self-employed hairdresser has won the right to claim for notice, holiday and redundancy pay in, what her lawyers say, is a ‘landmark’ case for thousands of beauty industry workers.
Meghan Gorman, 26, has won an Employment Tribunal judgement in Manchester arguing that, although her contract was as a self-employed hairdresser, the level of control she had over her working practices effectively made her an employee.
Ms Gorman, from Clitheroe in Lancashire, worked for six years at a Terence Paul salon in Manchester city centre, until it closed in 2019.
Meghan Gorman, 26, has won the right to claim for notice, holiday and redundancy pay after an Employment Tribunal case in Manchester
She claimed she had to work hours set by the salon, who she also said kept 67 per cent of her takings.
The reasons for the Employment Tribunal ruling were released this week, after Judge Marion Batten ruled in the hairdresser’s favour in March.
Ms Gorman’s lawyers claim that the judgement in her favour furthers recent legal decisions on ‘worker’ status, in the case of Pimlico Plumbers at the Supreme Court and Uber drivers, which is currently on appeal from the Court of Appeal.
Judith Fiddler, of Direct Law & Personnel, said the preliminary judgment could affect thousands of hairdressers nationwide.
Ms Fiddler also added that it could influence people in other professions, for example dentists, hygienists, delivery drivers and bookkeepers.
She said: ‘The whole hairdressing industry and many others will be affected by this decision.
‘The significance is huge, as many people who think they are self-employed are actually not.
‘The influence of the Pimlico Plumbers and Uber drivers’ cases has changed the climate.
‘Our case was that Meghan was treated as an employee and was not genuinely self-employed, and therefore should benefit from employment law rights.
‘At all times she was treated as an employee and her bosses exercised tight control over all aspects of her work.’
Around 330,000 people work in the beauty industry in the UK and more than 80% of them are women, according to industry figures.
Ms Gorman, from Clitheroe in Lancashire, worked for six years at a Terence Paul salon in Manchester city centre, until it closed in 2019
Ms Gorman will also pursue other claims against Terence Paul, including unfair and wrongful dismissal sexual discrimination and a failure to provide a written contract of employment. She will also be claiming for holiday pay, her lawyers said.
The hairdresser joined Terence Paul, which at the time ran six luxury salons, as a 19-year-old trainee in 2013.
She later began work on a contract, headed ‘Independent Contract for Services’, as a self-employed hairdresser.
Terence Paul have claimed the company’s self-employed hairdressers had control over the hours and days they worked, their starting and finishing times, treatments they could give and their holidays.
But Ms Gorman has disputed this, saying she had to work from 9am until 6pm from Monday until Saturday.
She also claimed that she had no control over pricing or offering discounts, had to use the company’s products, conform to Terence Paul’s standards of dress, and had to tell the salon if she wanted time off.
Ms Gorman said: ‘They clearly had the power and control. I did not believe it could be considered I was in business on my own account.
‘I had thought for some time that the contract they had in place was not right, saying I was self-employed when they had all those rules in place.’
TUC senior employment rights officer Tim Sharp said: ‘This is yet another case of the courts calling out false self-employment.
‘The Government needs to use its planned Employment Bill to ensure that everyone gets full rights unless the boss can prove they are genuinely self-employed.’
MailOnline have approached Terence Paul for comment.