Associated employers
Part XIV Interpretation
For the purposes of this Act any two employers shall be treated as associated if—
(a)one is a company of which the other (directly or indirectly) has control, or
(b)both are companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has control;
and “associated employer” shall be construed accordingly.
(4) In this Act “employer”, in relation to an employee or a worker, means the person by whom the employee or worker is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed.
Defined in s.230(4) · see it in the full Act(6) This section has effect subject to sections 43K , 47B(3) and 49B(10) ; and for the purposes of Part XIII so far as relating to Part IVA or section 47B, “worker”, “worker’s contract” and, in relation to a worker, “employer”, “employment” and “employed” have the extended meaning given by section 43K.
Defined in s.230(6) · see it in the full ActSection 231 requires legal or voting control for companies to be associated employers. Evidence of de facto control may justify an inference of legal control where the person able to clarify the position fails to do so. The Tribunal was entitled to make that inference on the evidence. (see paras [19]; [23]–[25])
Associated-employer status depends on legal control, ordinarily ultimate voting control through share ownership. Practical control could be considered only as evidence supporting an inference about that legal control; it was not substituted for the statutory test. (see paras [45]-[50])
Section 231 was used to identify employees within the scope of Regulation 30 for the purposes of the challenge (see para [99]).
What each judgment says about section 231 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.