ABSTRACT
Whereas the previous chapter considered the wider context of the debate on clergy employment status, this chapter looks in detail at the case law, especially in the UK but also at some comparative material. It identifies some fundamental problems in the case law such as the failure to develop any clear rationale for why employment status should be denied to the clergy and the failure to be clear that a contract of employment is needed as distinct from a contract per se. There has also been a failure by the courts to grapple with exactly what is meant by spirituality, and to assist here a definition of spirituality is offered. The cases are then examined against a suggested taxonomy and it suggested that one fundamental error has been to separate the initial question of whether there is a contract from a subsequent examination of the facts to see if this is negated by a finding that there is an underpinning vocational element of the relationship. Having examined the case law, the chapter ends by looking at whether it is possible for a church or other religious organisation to act to prevent the application of employment law to its clergy.
