It seems that employment law is one area in which courts will not rely upon the written contract to find the intentions of the parties involved. In a recent case in which workers argued they were employees and not self-employed, despite what the contract said, the judges said that the contractual documents bore no relation to the reality of the relationship. But if you’re hoping all of a sudden to be able to argue your way out of contract on this basis, think again. The judgment was limited to situations where there is a dispute as to the genuineness of a written term in a contract in which case the courts must discover the actual legal obligations. The tax man will be pleased! (Google Autoclenz v Belcher for more.)
