Contracts and Agreements Vital to Uphold Claims
Signing on the dotted line in an agreement is a clear sign of acceptance of the clauses and the terms and conditions of the agreement. This reality won again in the case of Dr Sultan-Darmon versus the Community Dental Centers.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal was clear in its ruling that an independent contractor cannot claim for unlawful deductions in wages citing his services as that of an employee or a worker.
Dr Sultan-Darmon was working as an independent contractor with Community Dental Centers to provide dental services. He filed a petition against the Center for unlawful deductions of wages. He claimed that though he was not an employee, his status was that of a worker.
The Community Center argued that the dentist was clearly an independent self employed contractor and hence the claims were unfair. The agreement was a clear indication of the acceptance of terms and conditions and there was no room for ambiguity.
Scrutiny of the agreement clearly revealed that the status of the dentist was that of a self employed independent contractor. One of the terms of the agreement was that he would provide five days of services in a week and in case of any absence, would appoint a substitute to provide the services. The cost of the services provided by the substitute was to be borne by the dentist only.
Though Dr Sultan-Darmon never used the services of a substitute, he had clearly agreed to the terms and accepted the same. This was a clear understanding between the Community Centre and the independent contractor.
The EAT clearly ruled that acceptance of the terms and conditions of the agreement was vital to the contract and the dentist was fully aware of the implications. It further ruled that the status of the dentist was clearly that of an independent contractor and not a worker as claimed.
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