The Court of Appeal has upheld the  decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) that a Methodist minister was an employee. The rebuttable presumption which existed under previous case law, that when ministers of religion are appointed there is no intention to create legal relations, has been abandoned. The Court of Appeal fully endorsed the reasoning of the EAT, declaring it to contain a “masterful and detailed analysis of the authorities”.

While it might offend against the tenets of some religious doctrines to find a contract of employment, that was not the case here. Accordingly, attempts by the respondent in this case to invoke Article 9 (freedom of religion) were without merit.

Case: The President of the Methodist Conference v Preston [2011] EWCA Civ 1581, 20 December 2011.