HM Coastguards keep hard-won worker status after bosses’ appeal fails

HM coastguards will keep their hard-won worker status after an appeal by employers failed.

The Court of Appeal agreed with an earlier ruling by the Employment Appeal Tribunal; that HM Coastguard officers are workers and a contract existed between the parties in circumstances where coastguards had the right to be remunerated for their activities.

In 2024, GMB won a landmark workers’ rights case against the Maritime and Coastguard agency.

The hearing  was regarding  a coastguard officer – Martin Groom – whose membership was terminated in a meeting where a trade union official was not allowed to be present.

The Court of Appeal held:

• A contract came into effect (and Mr Groom was a worker) every time he undertook an activity with promised payment. This arrangement demonstrated a classic ‘wage/work’ bargain.
• There was mutuality of obligation when activities were undertaken for payment: Mr Groom had to comply with reasonable instructions during the activity and the Agency had to pay him if he claimed for his attendance.
• It did not matter that Mr Groom only had a contract with the Agency when he undertook activities with promised payment – there was no need for there to be an umbrella contract governing the whole relationship. The status could exist merely during the actual (paid) work.

The fact that the documents setting out the relationship stressed that CROs were volunteers and that there was no mutuality of obligation, did not override the factual reality of the situation.

Mr Groom claimed this was in breach of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA) – but to rely on the act had to prove he was a worker and not a volunteer.

Tushar Singh, GMB National Legal Officer, said:

GMB welcomes the fact the Court of Appeal has affirmed the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s findings that   our members in HMN Coastguard have workers status.

The outcome of the case is hugely significant, with potential implications for the voluntary sector as a whole.