NLJ this week: Riders not workers, workers not partners, affirmation not waiver

Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at the Norwich Law School, UEA, ends the year with a triple helping of employment precedent.

First up, can Deliveroo riders form a trade union? That depends if they are ‘workers’. Smith dissects the case and looks at relevant similar cases. Second, what rights pertain where a company such as Anglian Windows forms a contract with a two-person partnership? Is it a sham for employment? Third, in a reversal of the usual state of affairs, what happens when an employee faced with a breach of contract by the employer affirms the contract? Do they lose the right to claim constructive dismissal?