Employ TM ruling
Page 6
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SCOTFLOW Ltd has had an appeal to the Transport Tribunal over the definition of a full-time transport manager turned down. The Tribunal decided that a manager whose services were contracted to the company but who was not employed by them was not acceptable.
The appeal rose over the decision of the deputy Eastern Licencing Authority to refuse a standard operator's licence to the company which had arranged with Bernard Wade, a clearing house operator, that he would control the company fleet from Peterborough.
Mr Wade would be in control of the company's vehicles while they were in the South East of Britain and direct drivers and arrange backloads and mechanical assistance where necessary.
But Mr Wade was also to operate his clearing house under his own name.
In a written decision, the Tribunal says that the original EEC directive had been interpreted in road haulage regulations in 1977 and in its opinion the words "continuously and effectively manage" should have been included to describe the manager's function. The appeal had been based on the claim that the 1977 rules outlining the manager's function were not made within the scope of the EEC directive but the Tribunal dismissed this as being "too vague" and anyway untrue.
The tribunal held that because there was a difference in English law between a contract of service and a contract for services which had been mentioned in the letter of appointment from Scotflow to Mr Wade, he had been engaged as an independent contractor.
Engaging an independent contractor did not comply with the regulations on transport management, especially as Mr Wade would also be operating his clearing house and would not be in full-time employment.
The tribunal dismissed the appeal.