Year: 1967
Type: article
Abstract: THE problems created by labour-only sub-contracting and by the presence of self-employed persons in industry have been largely neglected until recently by both lawyers and writers on industrial relations.Lawyers have generally assumed that labour law was concerned with the relationship between the parties to a contract of service; it often used to be called '' the law of master and servant."Having once distinguished the servant from the independent contractor, most writers have been content to ignore the latter except to point out that the employer will not be liable for his acts of " collateral " negligence.lThese problems have been forced on our attention recently, first by the sudden increase in the number of firms involved, especially in the building industry: and second by the decision of the Court of Appeal in Emerald Construction Co. v. Louthian.%This case has important consequences in the law of industrial disputes generally: it also shows how the presence of a labour-only sub-contractor can dramatically alter the legal character of an otherwise straightforward situation.Shortly the facts were that the plaintiffs had contracted with Messrs. Higgs and Hill Ltd.for the supply of labour (bricklayers and others) for the construc-
Source: Modern Law Review
Author: G. de N. Clark
Institution: University College London
Language: English
Topic: Labor Law and Work Dynamics
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1971969007