Surprising judgment on employment status of IT contractor

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ("EAT") has recently ruled that a contractor who was supplied to an end user via an employment agency could not be the end user's employee, unless there was a contract between them.  Previous EAT decisions have concentrated on the relationship between end user and contractor, in order to decide if there is an "employment relationship". This time, the EAT has ruled simply that if there is no contract, then there can be no contract of employment.

If this ruling stands, all employment contracts could potentially be undermined by the use of agencies as contractual "buffers" between employers and workers.  However, the EAT has disagreed with its own previous rulings and there is now a clear need for definitive guidance in this area from a higher court.
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