In Ms E A v Allcures Plc the Claimant worked as a locum pharmacist for Allcure Ltd which operates 45 high street pharmacies and she worked across ten branches for six years.

She submitted a claim through the employment tribunal system claiming she was in effect a full-time employee and should have received the benefits a full-time employee at the company would receive.

The Claimant told Allcure Ltd in December 2018 she would be stepping down as the role of manager of a branch and would prefer to return to locum shifts across south Essex.

She complained to the tribunal after a new locum booking system was put in place and she did not receive further work.

The tribunal found the Claimant referred to herself as a locum in her dealings and was at all times self-employed for “tax purposes”.

The Claimant said “From 2015 to August 31, 2021, I exclusively worked for the respondent full time. I worked covering over ten branches (many across south Essex) and was provided with regular work”.

An operations director and superintendent pharmacist had previously emailed the claimant and said that the Claimant would be employed permanently at a south Essex branch.

However, Allcure Ltd said as part of the tribunal “this was a poor choice of words”.

The report added: “It was not the parties’ intention that the claimant would be an employee. The intention was that she would be used as long-term locum relief in one branch. She was not issued with a contract.”

The tribunal also heard that the Claimant would tell Allcure Ltd when she was unavailable and did not ask permission – unlike a full-time employee. In December 2021 and January 2022, the claimant went to Nigeria, which was later put on the Covid red list. She did not request permission.

The tribunal concluded: “The claimant was not an employee of the respondent at the relevant time. The complaints of unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal are therefore dismissed because the tribunal does not have jurisdiction to determine them.”