Deciding someone’s employment status can be complicated and Employment Tribunals and HMRC may consider different factors when deciding what status you have, as there is no single legal definition. The HMRC published a ‘Supervision, Direction or Control’ Guidance in March 2014 which you can see here.
There are basically three different types of working individuals
- an Employee
- a Worker (someone who works on a e.g. casual basis or is an agency temp)
- or someone who is self-employed (i.e. a freelancer or contractor)
It is important to establish your status, as:
-
- Employees generally have more employment rights than Workers or those who are Self-Employed (see our Guide to your Employment Rights here).
- There is also a difference in National Insurance contributions, tax and benefits between Employees/Workers and those who are Self-Employed.
It is therefore equally important for Employers to know the correct status of those you employ.
You can of course be employed and self-employed at the same time (you may be an employee during the day and run your own business in the evening; or take a freelance contract with one employer and your next contract is on a PAYE basis). You may also not be self-employed for every job – each job needs to be considered separately. The HMRC can help you in these circumstances.
[…] from 1st December 2014, employees will have protection from detriment and unfair dismissal for exercising their rights to shared […]
[…] a piece of UK legislation called the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), Employees and Workers who ‘blow the whistle’ – i.e.make a ‘protected disclosure’ of any […]
[…] or part of one, to another business. The regulations are designed to protect the rights of employees in a transfer situation enabling them to enjoy the same terms and conditions, with continuity of […]
[…] Parental Bereavement Leave will be available to all employees who are ‘bereaved parents’ (which means they were the primary carer for a child who has […]
[…] greatest asset but also your biggest cost. The way you recruit, manage, promote and reward your staff has a direct effect on their productivity and so your own profitability and […]
[…] and partners/civil partners who are workers will not quality for Leave but may qualify for Paternity Pay (see below). Freelancers, unless they […]
[…] an employer can ask a potential or current employee about (in relation to convictions and […]
[…] 6th April 2014, workers in this situation will have tax and employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) deducted from their pay at the source by their agency. […]
[…] considering if a worker is disabled or not – for the purposes of being covered by the Equality Act 2010 – employers […]
[…] rewards may seem an obvious way to motivate your staff and freelancers, but a new study has revealed they don’t work in the long term! While hefty pay rates are good at […]
[…] Workers and Freelancers are generally not entitled to Statutory Adoption Leave although your Employer may give you unpaid leave. Workers may be entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay. If you are an Employee who is not entitled to Adoption Leave or Pay then your Employer may agree to give you unpaid leave, paid holiday or Parental Leave. […]
[…] SPL an employee will be entitled to all their existing terms and conditions other than those relating to pay, […]
[…] new freelancers and contractors may be vaguely aware of IR35, but not know when and where it applies. Before getting too intimate […]
[…] LCC’s protected under the Equality Act? It is common in many industry sectors for workers to work through a Limited Liability Company (or Personal Service […]
[…] under the Percentage Threshold Scheme (PTS), employers can recover SSP costs for their employees’ sickness if the total SSP paid in a tax month is more than 13% of their gross Employers’ (Class […]
[…] by economics consultancy Oxford Economics found that the average cost of replacing a member of staff when they leave is more than £30,000. You need to keep your staff […]
[…] British woman, an employee of the NHS, took care of the baby and began breast-feeding it within an hour of its birth. She then […]
[…] Prejudice’ Rules have existed for a long time and are used by an employer when they and an employee have a dispute in their working relationship which they are trying to resolve in the most amicable […]
[…] employers, if a relationship with an employee is not going well, for whatever reason, may consider ending that relationship and will hope to […]
[…] It’s a long title, but these Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations are important for Limited Company Contractors (or Personal Service Companies) and agency temps. […]
[…] neither an employee, nor an employer, has the right to record a meeting – unless both parties agree to the recording. […]
[…] considering if a worker is disabled or not for the purposes of being covered by the Equality Act 2010, Employers must […]
[…] not getting the rest breaks he was entitled to under the Working Time Regulations, which entitles workers to an uninterrupted rest break of 20 minutes when working more than a six-hour day. There is an […]
[…] what laws are derived from Europe, where the Government has chosen to enhance EU regulations for workers, what laws are derived solely from the UK and what may happen to these laws in the event of a […]
[…] right to freedom of assembly and association – because it did not provide adequate protection for employees dismissed on the grounds of their political opinions or affiliations (Redfearn was a member of the […]
[…] a bad patch an employer, rather than make redundancies, may choose to make other changes to an employee’s Employment contract including lay-offs and short-time […]
[…] here we look at what obigations a previous employer has whey they provide a reference for an employee. The Data Protection Employment Practices Code […]
[…] our first article on References here we look at whether Employers have to seek references about employees when recruiting and whether there is a legal obligation for a previous employer to give a reference […]
[…] employer or client will be keeping an eye on you? Basically, quite likely. Employers can monitor staff through a variety of methods – but it must do so in a way that is consistent with several […]
[…] v Burn, an Employment Tribunal found that the Employer acted unreasonably when it refused the employee’s request to be allowed to be accompanied at a meeting with the management. This was not part of a […]
[…] Employment Rights Act 1996 (the law that currently covers making redundancies) says that, ‘an employee is dismissed by reason of redundancy if the dismissal is wholly or mainly attributable to the fact […]
[…] we’d look at the concept of continuity of service in more detail here, as it is important for employees and workers in terms of the employment rights that you are entitled to (e.g. being able to claim […]
[…] the following factors when deciding if an alternative role will be ‘suitable’ to replace an employees’ redundant […]
[…] People on Fixed Term contracts (FTC’s) will be PAYE Employees. […]
[…] However, many Employers make mistakes when handling disciplinaries and this can result in an employee having a claim for unfair dismissal if they have two years continuous service (one in Northern […]
[…] Supreme Court 2011 legal judgement on Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher and Others and how this may affect freelancers and contractors who have IR35 concerns. As this case is so important for all employees, workers and freelancers […]
[…] concern and confusion for small businesses is what paperwork and documents you need to give to your staff (we’re using the term ‘staff’ loosely here) to ensure your working relationship is clear and […]
[…] know there are a lot of employees out there at the moment who are having their employment terms changed, usually against their […]
[…] dismissal notices being given out by Shropshire Council to all their staff earlier this month, we thought we’d take a closer look at what this means and if it could happen […]
[…] are basically 3 different ways you can be employed in a job in the UK and in this article we look at what and who a Contractor […]
[…] Employers are advised to have a grievance procedure for employees to use, if they are unhappy with any of your working […]
[…] leave is a right for parents who are employees to take time off work to look after a child or make arrangements for the child’s welfare. Parents […]
[…] of coronavirus on people working in film, TV and cinema, particularly in relation to freelance workers and those on limited hours […]
[…] Equality Act applies equally to all employees, workers and those self-employed who personally to do the work they are contracted […]
[…] 2018, the Advocate General of the ECJ said that foster parents were not workers and therefore do not have rights under the Working Time Directive (to rest breaks and […]
[…] case’ drivers (James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam) were not self-employed independent contractors but workers (for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the National Minimum Wage Act 1988, and the […]
[…] secure, or are trying to secure, overseas business, what do you need to consider when sending your contractors, your employees, or even just yourself […]
[…] 2011 Fraud Survey poll by Ernst & Young found 1 employee in 7 working at large UK companies said they would be prepared to offer bribes to win business and […]
[…] and Employment Act (SBEEA) has amended The Equality Act 2010 to require employers with 250 or more employees (in the private or third sector) to publish details of their gender pay gap. Public sector bodies […]
[…] Besides bringing new tax and National Insurance considerations for both businesses and contractors, this law means that an ‘intermediary’ businesses will now have to make quarterly reports to […]
[…] area over the last few years – case law has been consistent that most agency workers are not ‘employees’ – although there may be circumstances where an agency workers may be viewed as an employee of the […]
[…] you are an ‘intermediary’ business who provides Contractors and workers to your clients, you need to regularly report to the HMRC about the ‘workers’ you […]
[…] at what happened a year ago, on the 17th of March 2022, when P&O Ferries sacked nearly 800 UK employees, without, so far, serious consequences for the […]
[…] “Workers“, under this Predictable Terms and Conditions law, include workers, those on zero-hours contracts, Employees and agency workers. […]