The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) and the Upper Tribunal stating that the lower courts had ‘erred in law in their approaches to the question of mutuality of obligation in the individual contracts’. However, the case is not resolved as it is now being referred back to the First Tier Tribunal.

The issue of the case was whether 60 part-time referees, who were engaged to officiate five football matches by Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) were employees of PGMOL and were engaged under contracts of service or were self-employed, for the purposes of income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs).