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A CHURCH ORGANIST is an employee, an employment tribunal has ruled in a preliminary hearing to determine whether an organist is entitled to claim the statutory rights that apply to employees.
The case concerned a claim for unfair dismissal brought by an eminent and well-qualified organist and choirmaster in the north of England. It was argued on behalf of the church authorities that the organist was not an employee, but was self-employed, so that the employment rights available to employees were not applicable. That preliminary issue was addressed by the tribunal in two hearings in November and December last year.
The appointment of organists in the C of E is governed by a mixture of canon law, contract law, and employment law. There is no single test for determining whether someone is an “employee”. That issue has to be determined on the facts of each case, and by a consideration whether the indicia of employment are present in the agreement between the parties.
The tribunal accepted that the organist was paid gross without deductions under the PAYE system, but said that that was irrelevant in determining employment status. The tribunal paid particular attention to the amount of control exercised by a vicar under Canon B20. It decided that the indicia of an employment relationship existed in the present case.
The result of the ruling is that the case can proceed to a substantive hearing to determine whether the organist’s dismissal was unfair under current employment law.
The tribunal is the first step in bringing a claim for unfair dismissal. Its decisions are not binding on other tribunals or courts and do not establish a precedent under English law, but this ruling can be persuasive in other cases where similar terms and conditions apply. The church authorities have the right to appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and from there to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, whose rulings establish binding authority.
Robert Leach, director of Organist Publications Ltd, who appeared as an expert witness for the organist at the tribunal, regarded the ruling as “a landmark decision which should greatly help to improve the working relationship between organists and church authorities”. He said that about two-thirds of qualified organists were no longer prepared to accept appointments in the Church, the most quoted reason being “problems in working with vicars”.
An order prevents the publication of any information that might identify the church and the organist, and the tribunal’s ruling was issued as A against B and C.
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