Ms Joan Gordon:

Over the two-year period, 29 appeals were brought by companies and 12 by workers. That is the breakdown of 41 appeals brought. In the period from January 2019 to October 2019, 19 decisions were determined by appeals officers. Some 14 of these appeals were brought by companies and five by workers. In 16 of these cases the deciding officer of the Department had determined that the employment status was class A. I will use the terms "class A" and "class S" for ease of reference. In three cases the decision was that the employment status was class S. In all 14 cases appealed by companies, the deciding officer had determined that the employment status was class A. The appeals officer determined that eight cases came under class A and six under class S. In the five cases appealed by workers, the deciding officer determined that the employment status was class A in two cases and class S in three cases. The appeals officer determined that class A applied in three cases and that class S applied in two cases. In that latter example, the appeals officer had changed the two class A decisions to class S and the three class S decisions to class A.

In 2018, a total of 22 decisions were determined by appeals officers, of which 15 were appeals brought by companies and seven by workers. In 18 of these cases the deciding officer had determined that the employment status was class A and in four cases the decision was that the employment status was class S. In all 15 cases appealed by companies, the deciding officer determined that the employment status was class A. The appeals officer determined class A in 11 cases and class S in four. In the seven cases appealed by workers, the deciding officer determined that the employment status was class A in three cases and class S in four cases. The appeals officer determined that class A applied in four cases and class S applied in three cases. Therefore, the appeals officer changed one decision from class S to class A and upheld the deciding officers' decisions in the six other cases.

Whether these appeals are successful or unsuccessful depends on whether one takes the perspective of the company or the worker but over the period from 2018 to 2019, companies were successful in ten out of 29 appeals brought by them, which is approximately one third. Workers were successful in six of the 12 appeals they brought in the same period.