The unanimous Supreme Court decision, delivered last month, could have very important implications for workers in the gig economy.

The Court ruled that delivery drivers working for Karshan (Midlands) Ltd - trading as Domino’s Pizza - should be treated as employees and not contractors.

The Court’s decision means the self-employed status of the Domino’s drivers is considered bogus for tax purposes. The decision marks a significant development, with implications right across the economy. Bogus self-employment is not confined to fast food delivery drivers, it has also been exposed in sectors like media, construction and aviation.

ICTU general secretary Owen Reidy said that while the implications of the decision would have to be weighed up, his initial reaction was positive: “It shouldn’t have come to this, we should have stronger legislation in the first place to guard against bogus self-employment,” he said.

Fórsa national secretary Katie Morgan is vice president of the ICTU and sits on the Determination of Employment Status working group. She welcomed the Supreme Court decision and said it will assist ICTU in the fight against bogus self-employment: “It’s not only the worker that suffers from being denied terms and conditions, but the state suffers the loss of revenue where workers should have been correctly classified.

“This ruling, in addition to recent progress on the bogus self-employment situation in RTÉ, highlights the importance of protecting workers from its exploitative use, in addition to other forms of precarious employment,” she said.

Katie said unions have asked the Government to reconvene the Determination of Employment Status working group in light of the Supreme Court decision. The group includes employer representative bodies IBEC and ISME, as well as senior ICTU officials.

She added: “We’re currently analysing the finding to determine what impact we believe it will have on employment legislation and industrial relations.”

The case against Domino's started in 2018 when the Tax Appeals Commission decided the drivers should be treated as PAYE employees rather than self-employed independent contractors. The Revenue Commissioners has said it’s carefully considering the detail and implications of the ruling.

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