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Referees are not employees
A first-tier tribunal has ruled that National Group football referees should not be taxed as employees. The ruling, published May 2026, follows more than 10 years of legal arguments by HMRC that referees should be treated as payolled employees due to their season-long commitments to the PGMOL. HMRC claimed that PGMOL owed £584,000 in unpaid tax in relation to matches between 2014 and 2016. The tribunal found that, even though the referees met two of the key tests HMRC relied
Andrew
Jul 281 min read
Fan Abuse, Liability and ‘All Reasonable Steps’
Recent incidents of racist abuse directed at players during Premier League and Six Nations fixtures along with a huge increase in online abuse highlight why impending changes to harassment laws under the Employment Rights Act 2025 will place significant obligations on clubs, event operators, and other sports organisations. From October 2026, sports organisations will be liable for acts of harassment towards their employees (in the course of their employment) by fans, customer
Andrew
Jul 191 min read
Could Faith Worker Unionisation Spread Across the UK...
When the Diocese of Leicester signed a voluntary union recognition agreement with Unite, it marked, what I feel, is a quiet revolution in how religious institutions handle employment relations. Historically, trade unionism and organised religion shared complex, deeply intertwined roots. In the 19th century, many British union pioneers including early trade union presidents and leaders were Methodist ministers who modelled union branch meetings on Methodist fellowship gatherin
Andrew
Jul 163 min read
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