(6) Categorisation by the parties

(6)     Categorisation by the parties

How the parties themselves label their relationship is a relevant but not conclusive consideration, but even such a neutral statement may have to be treated with caution. The status of the worker is to be decided by an objective assessment of all the factors, and the label attached by the parties is but one of those factors. The parties cannot change the nature of the contract by attaching the 'wrong' label. That is to say, if on reviewing the whole of the evidence the court or tribunal concludes that the worker is definitely an employee (or, as the case may be, definitely an independent contractor), then it will so hold, despite the fact that the parties themselves may have agreed the opposite: Davis v New England College of Arundel [1977] ICR 6, EAT; Ferguson v John Dawson & Partners (Contractors) Ltd [1976] 3 All ER 817, [1976] 1 WLR 1213, CA; Young and Woods Ltd v West [1980] IRLR 201, CA; Narich Pty Ltd v Pay-roll Tax Comr [1984] ICR 286, PC. To that extent the parties are not free to decide the nature of the relationship for