Ordination, subordination and independence - the continuing challenge to the boundaries of labour law

The concept of the employment relationship appears to be becoming more, rather than less, fluid in recent times, especially in the field of equality law. EU law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Jivraj v Hashwani, distinguishes on the basis of whether there is a ‟relationship of subordination” (Allonby). The suggestion from that case is that showing a requirement for personal work is not enough if the provision of services is independent of the direction of the ‟employer”. While arbitrators are not under employment contracts for the purposes of equality law, it seems that judges are: O‘Brien v Ministry of Justice. The position of ordained ministers is once again under scrutiny as a result of Preston v Methodist Conference. This paper seeks to examine the coherence of the concepts of subordination, obligation and independence with a view to clarifying the proper scope of employment law.