preview

The Minimum Of Obligation Is Necessary Essay

Better Essays

An irreducible minimum of obligation is necessary in order to have a contract of employment. There must be an obligation on the part of the employer to provide work, and an equal obligation upon the worker to accept the work when offered. Therefore, if the employer can decline to offer work, or the worker can refuse to do the work, no contract of employment will exist. However, it is argued that mutuality of obligation is a feature of contracts of employment and contracts for employment therefore, it cannot function as an indicator of employee status.’ Jean Warburton also pointed out that without an irreducible minimum of obligation a contract cannot exist; therefore this consideration alone will not draw the necessary distinction. However, in Montgomery and Tanton personal service was seen as the irreducible minimum. This demonstrates that it is unclear what the irreducible minimum is. The importance of mutuality of obligation was demonstrated in O’Kelly where it was held that even though the relationship had many of the characteristics of a contract of employment, the workers were self-employed because mutuality of obligation was missing. The test was applied in a strict sense in this case; this is ‘highly disadvantageous’ for workers with irregular patterns; as demonstrated in Dacas and Bunce. However, in Dacas it was suggested that an implied contract could exist between the end user and complainant because mutuality could be created if the individual had

Get Access