There has been a lot in the news lately about the employment status and self-employed workers becoming entitled to some workers’ rights, particularly in reference to workers in Gig Economy businesses.

So What is a Gig Economy?

“A labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs”

Some recent employment law cases have brought the debate that comes with this trend back into the public & media eyes; Pimlico plumbers, Uber, Deliveroo to name a few.

So in this climate, it is important to know your the Employment Status of any people working for you.  The experts have put together a series of questions that should help…

The Multiple Test suggests the three following questions to better determine if individuals are employees or not;

Is the individual under the control of the employer?
Does the individual have to provide work personally?
Is there any term that is inconsistent with employment?

The Multiple Obligations Test suggests the following question;

Does the employer have to provide work, and is the individual obliged to do it?

These comments expand on those simple questions….

Is the individual under the control of the employer?

Will they be carrying out the work unsupervised using their own training, experience, equipment and materials?

Will they be exercising their own control and judgement over how they provide the service?

Does the individual have to provide work personally?

Can anyone else or other providers do the work?

Is there any term that is inconsistent with employment?

Are they determining their own hours, managing their own time and breaks (in consultation with the employer)?

Does the employer have to provide work, and is the individual obliged to do it?

Are they obligated to take the work, will they be treated unfairly if they don’t, is the employer obligated to provide work?

So you have identified the type of employment status but what does that mean for you as the employer?

For small business it is helpful to understand the options that are available when taking on the essential people that will help grow your business and meet your customer’s needs.  It is a big step and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  This summary of types of Employment Status shows the entitlements for each and gives some ways to assess what might be the most appropriate.

Self Employed – Running their own business

Self-employed workers aren’t covered as much by Employment Law and they don’t have all the rights and responsibilities of employees, but they still have protection for;

data protection
protection from discrimination
health & safety

Workers – Casual or irregular work

Workers are well protected under Employment Law, but not to the same extent as employees;

payment of the national minimum / living wage
the protection of the Working Time Regulations
holiday pay
protection against unlawful deductions from wages
protection against unlawful discrimination
protection for ‘whistleblowing’
to not be treated less favourably if they work part-time

Amongst other things, Workers usually aren’t entitled to a minimum notice period, protection against unfair dismissal or the right to flexible working (but there are exceptions!).

Employees – Employed under contract

Employees have the same rights as Workers, with extra employment rights and responsibilities;

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave and pay
minimum notice periods if their employment will be ending
protection against unfair dismissal
the right to request flexible working
time off for emergencies
Statutory Redundancy Pay (SRP)