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12 January 2012
Categories: Case law , Law reports , In Court
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Employment—Contract of service—Church

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President of the Methodist Conference v Preston [2011] EWCA Civ 1581, [2011] All ER (D) 155 (Dec)

Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Maurice Kay VP, Longmore LJ and Sir David Keene, 20 Dec 2011

In determining whether a minister is an “employee” for the purposes of s 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), the spiritual role of a minister cannot by itself justify denying contractual effect to an arrangement which otherwise has the indicia of a contract.

Oliver Hyams (instructed by Messrs Pothecary Witham Weld) for the Church. John Bowers QC and James Bax (instructed by Nalders LLP) for the respondent.

In 2003, the respondent was ordained as a Minister of the Methodist Church, following a period of time as a Probationer Minister. In 2006, she was appointed to the post of Superintendant Minister to the Redruth Circuit in Cornwall. On 10 June 2009, she submitted a letter of resignation. On 9 September 2009, she brought a complaint before the employment tribunal alleging unfair constructive dismissal. Her claim raised a preliminary

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