Employment status in regulated sectors: key takeaways from PGMOL

The FTT ruling in Professional Game Match Offcials Ltd v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 654 offers practical guidance on employment status litigation for contingent-worker arrangements regulated sectors. The case illustrates that satisfying mutuality and control does not end the employment-status inquiry. Under stage three of the Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance [1968] 2 QB 497 test, tribunals must weigh the whole regulatory and economic context. The existence of narrow, optional engagements, regulatory rather than managerial control, limited integration and weak economic dependence all point away from employment.

The FTT emphasised that no single factor is determinative. The case was decided on the cumulative effect of narrow, highly optional mutuality; regulatory rather than managerial control; lack of organisational integration; and the absence of economic dependence. Given this overall picture, the engagements were contracts for services.

The decision emphasises that stage three of Ready Mixed Contract test is where the real action now lies; it is not safe to assume that the existence of mutuality and a framework of control is sufficient for employment. Tribunals will be expected to probe the nature, quality and weight of each relevant factor in its regulatory and economic context, and only then stand back to form a view. Businesses engaging contingent workers in regulated environments will need a detailed grasp of the contractual framework, the role of any regulator and how engagements operate in practice if they are to manage income tax and NICs risk with confidence.

The article by Henry Bennet-Gough and Amelia Roffey can be read from the link below.