In Massey v Crown Life Insurance Co [1978] IRLR 31 CA, the Court of Appeal held that, whilst the parties to a contract cannot alter the truth of their relationship by putting a different label upon it, when it is ambiguous as to whether the employment is under a contract of employment or a contract for services, the terms of an agreement between the parties may be decisive as to what is the legal relationship.
Rules which lay down standards of dress and appearance for both women and men are unlikely to constitute unlawful discrimination on grounds of sex, even if they impose different requirements on women (such as prohibition on wearing trousers) than on men, based on the difference in sexes. This is the principle which emerges from the recent EAT case of Schmidt v Austicks Bookshops.
In Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance [1968] 1 All ER 433 HC, the High Court held that a contract of service existed if three conditions were fulfilled, one of these being that the provisions of the contract should not be inconsistent with its being a contract of service. In this case the rights conferred and the duties imposed by the individual's contract with the company were not such as to make the contract one of service.
In Initial Services Ltd v Putterill and Another [1967] 3 All ER 145 CA, the Court of Appeal affirmed that employees should not disclose confidential information that they obtain during the course of their employment, but that there is an exception where the disclosure is in the public interest.