The Control Test In The Case Of Bata Shoe Company

Control test is used to determine whether a master and servant relationship exists. The control test looks at how much control is being exercised over the worker by the employer. The employer has the rights to command or instruct the worker on tasks to complete and how it needs to be performed. For example, an employer has control over not only what a worker needs to do, but also how the work should be done.

If the employer merely dictates what the worker needs to do and leaves it to the worker to decide how the work should be performed, less control would have been exercised by the employer, hence making it contract for services.

In the case of Bata Shoe Company (Malaya) Ltd v. EPF, the court held that the shop managers are considered as employees of the company due to the extent of control in which the company had over the shop managers. However, no employer and employee relationship exists between the company and the sales assistants employed by the shop managers. The managers were given the power or right by the company to employ workers to assist in the daily course of business operations, therefore the shop assistant is the employee of the manager and it is the manager who is responsible for EPF payment under the EPF Ordinance.

Integration test or also known as the organizational test deals with the individual’s degree of involvement in the organization. Under the contract of service, a person is employed as part of the business and his or her work is done as an