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Purplebricks Hybrid Estate Agency Employee Misclassification Class Action Overview:
- Who: Self-employed agents lodged a class action lawsuit against hybrid estate agencies such as Purplebricks and YOPA.
- Why: Workers claim they were misclassified as self-employed and want to recover lost benefits.
- Where: The class action lawsuit affects workers across the UK.
Purplebricks and YOPA agents who worked for the hybrid estate companies may be owed a collective millions in unpaid holiday pay and pension benefits, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiffs claim they are designated as self-employed but are treated like employees by the hybrid estate agencies — without the benefits they would be entitled to under UK labour law.
The class action is being brought under HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) IR35 contractor regulations, which identifies both contractors and businesses that mislabel themselves to avoid paying the appropriate taxes.
The IR35 legislation also aims to prevent businesses from treating workers classified as self-employed or independent contractors the same as directly-employed individuals, who are entitled to more benefits, reports The Negotiator.
Peter Fletcher, a spokesperson for the specialist law firm Contractors For Justice (C4J), which is bringing the action, said businesses must compensate workers appropriately.
“HMRC and the courts are clear that just designating your staff as self-employed does not mean that you may operate those workers as employees in all but name just to save the company from paying holiday pay, statutory pension contributions and so on,” Fletcher said.
C4J claims thousands of workers may be owed between a collective £20 million to £100 million in unpaid holiday pay and workplace pension contributions, reports the CIPP.
Purplebricks Denies Misclassifying Real Estate Agents, Share Price Drops After Class Action
Determining whether a worker is self-employed or directly-employed depends on a number of factors, including if they are required to reach certain targets or if the work they complete could not be done by anyone else, reports The Negotiator.
How much control a company has over a worker and if they are supplying them leads also gets taken into account when determining the correct worker label.
In response to the complaint, a Purplebricks spokesperson reportedly denied that they miscategorize anyone that works with them.
“All Territory Operators entered into a commercial licence agreement and this was clearly set out in their contract with Purplebricks,” the company spokesperson said. “We have always taken legal advice in regards to our licensing model – and the advice is very clear that these individuals were operating as limited companies, running their own business and with full control over their own staff.”
Purplebricks share price dropped to 52p a share upon news of the class action lawsuit being formed, reports The Negotiator.
In July, a tribunal ordered the HMRC to repay taxes the revenue agency had assessed a parent under its High-Income Child Benefit Charge.
Has Purplebricks or another hybrid estate agency misclassified you as self-employed? Let us know in the comments!
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