A COMPANY ASSOCIATED with the Irish country singer Michael English has been ordered to pay a former band member almost €44,000 in compensation for various breaches of employment legislation.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) issued a number of rulings in favour of the band’s former fiddle player Matthew McGranaghan, including that he was unfairly dismissed by MEPC Music.

The WRC ruled that McGranaghan was an employee in practice of the company which oversaw the country singer’s band, despite claims by MEPC Music that he was a self-employed contractor.

McGranaghan, who comes from Castlefinn, Co Donegal, took his claim to the WRC after being dismissed from the band in September 2021, with whom he worked since 2013.

The WRC heard that he received €280 per gig and had an average of four engagements per week.

McGranaghan said he had his first disagreement with the band’s manager, Paul Claffey, in August 2014 when the manager was trying to stop overnight accommodation after concerts.

He claimed he was asked by English if he was happy in the band in July 2016 and again in August 2018.

McGranaghan said he became aware towards the end of 2018 about the issue of bogus self-employment which he felt could apply to his own situation.

He said he and other band members were given an offer of talking to a tax advisor after he had asked Claffey about becoming an employee in February 2019.

The fiddle player claimed English told him at a meeting on 22 May 2019 that “this isn’t the band for you”.

He alleged the singer told him that he just had to say it if he wanted someone out of the band.

McGranaghan claimed he was told that the band manager 100% wanted him gone but would give him another chance, while English came to tell him that “the show is over.”

He told the WRC that the singer claimed he could easily find ten other fiddle players as he had a good name and paid the going rate.

The musician said he investigated his employment status with the Department of Social Protection in May 2020 after the band’s tour was shut down by the Covid 19 pandemic.

He claimed a scope investigation determined he was an employee.

When he was asked to resume touring with English in August 2021, McGranaghan said the singer stated that band members becoming employees was not an option as he had “many strings to my bow” and would continue to hire musicians as he had always done.

The complainant said he had replied that the issue was an ongoing concern but they would leave it at that.

The WRC heard that English was not called as a witness as he had another event to attend.

MEPC Music’s financial controller Bernie Greally stated musicians in the band were not employees.

Claffey gave evidence that when the complainant joined the band that McGranaghan agreed to his fee and to be responsible for his own taxes.

The band manager said he didn’t regard the fiddle player as an employee and did not know of any band that had employees.

However, he accepted that one member of the band, who had a number of duties in the company, was an employee.

Claffey claimed the musician had told a social welfare appeal hearing that he was not an employee.

He observed that the musician had described himself on social media as a self-employed musician.

However, he said McGranaghan had also updated his own information with Revenue to create the impression he was an employee.

In her ruling, WRC adjudication officer Caroline Reidy said the distinction between an employee and an independent contractor was crucial in the case because most employment law protections applied to individuals employed under contracts of service but not to independent contractors.

Reidy said McGranaghan was paid a set fee for each gig or rehearsal in return for being the band’s resident fiddle player.

She said he was instructed by MEPC Music for all work-related matters and he had no flexibility as to when work was performed, was told what music to play and wore a band uniform.

“The facts of the case cannot support the complainant being self-employed for this engagement based on all the circumstances of the arrangement and evidence,” said Reidy.

She awarded the fiddle player compensation of €26,880 after concluding he had been unfairly dismissed when the company had not applied any process or procedure when it informed him via e-mail that his services were no longer required.

He was awarded another €5,000 for receiving no holidays or annual leave and €1,500 for not getting any public holiday entitlement.

For failing to provide the complainant with a written contract, MEPC Music was ordered to pay him €500 as well as €4,480 for failing to provide him with minimum notice.

McGranaghan was awarded €1,000 for failure to be paid for working Sundays and another €4,480 for payment in lieu of notice of termination of his employment.

The total awards came to €43,840.