ECJ Advocate General’s Opinion – Collective labour agreement – Contracts for professional services – Minimum fees – Competition – Article 101 TFEU – Prevention of social dumping – ‘Albany exception’
A Dutch union negotiated terms for the minimum remuneration of self-employed musicians when engaged as substitutes to play in Dutch orchestras. But were the terms anti-competitive under EU law? Not (so held the CJEU) if the musicians were ‘false self-employed’, being a concept which seems to equate to that of a limb (b) worker. The court held: ‘a service provider can lose his status of an independent trader . . if he does not determine independently his own conduct on the market, but is entirely dependent on his principal, because he does not bear any of the . . commercial risks arising out of the latter’s activity and operates as an auxiliary within the principal’s undertaking . .
It follows that the status of ‘worker’ within the meaning of EU law is not affected by the fact that a person has been hired as a self-employed person under national law, for tax, administrative or organisational reasons, as long as that person acts under the direction of his employer as regards, in particular, his freedom to choose the time, place and content of his work . . , does not share in the employer’s commercial risks . . and, for the duration of that relationship, forms an integral part of that employer’s undertaking, so forming an economic unit with that undertaking . .’
Wahl AG
C-413/13, [2014] EUECJ C-413/13 – O, [2014] EUECJ C-413/13
Bailii, Bailii
European
Cited by:
Cited – Pimlico Plumbers Ltd and Another v Smith SC 13-Jun-2018
The parties disputed whether Mr Smith had been an employee of or worker with the company so as to bring associated rights into play. The contract required the worker to provide an alternate worker to cover if necessary.
Held: The company’s . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 27 July 2021; Ref: scu.536713