Church Told To Play Pipes Of Peace As Organists Get Workers’ Rights

[contrabordun]

If this is the case and an organist is only required to attend for two hours every Sunday morning, is his leave entitlement 6 x 2 (or 4 x 2) hours?

Yes, but this still means six Sundays off with pay, because each of your 6 2-hour-leave-periods equates to a Sunday off, since you wouldn't have been on duty for any of the other 22 hours that Sunday anyway.

[Guest Barry Williams]

The Tribunal ruling seems to have caused a disproportionate amount of interest.

 

Tomorrow Robert Leach and I are attending Broadcasting House to record an interview which, we are told, will be broadcast Wednesday week on 'You and Yours'. We have always maintained that the terms of Canon B20 create what is known in law as a 'master and servant' relationship between the organist and the vicar. Interestingly, it was ruled that the PCC is also the employer, notwithstanding the fact that in the Tribunal case, another body paid the organist's salary and the organist filed his tax as self-employed. That is why the ruling is so strong and persuasive. In all previous cases, where the organist filed his tax on a self-employed basis, the Tribunals have thrown the cases out at the first stage.

 

I feel that things will never be quite the same again!

 

A draft Contract of Employment and Notes for organists is available free as a downloadable pdf from the Website:

 

http://www.organistpublications.co.uk/Index.htm

 

Go to 'Guidelines' from which it should be clear.

 

 

Barry Williams