Employment Status affects your Employment Rights

Did you know that your employment status have a major impact on your employment rights. It is important to find out what your status is as your rights at work will depend on your contract with your employer and your statutory rights.  Which statutory employment rights you will qualify for will depend on your employment status. In the UK there are three main types of employment status: Employee, Worker, Self-employed.  

Employee

If most of the factors below apply to you, you are likely to be an employee:

• You are expected to attend work on a regular basis unless you are on annual leave, sick leave or on family friendly related leave (e.g. maternity leave) which has been agreed with your employer
• You are required to work a minimum number of hours, whether fixed or variable, and you expect to be paid for the hours that you work
• A manager or supervisor is responsible for telling you what work you should do, and when and how to do your work. Some employees may be able to organise how they use their own working time and set some of their own objectives
• The organisation deducts tax and national insurance from your wages
• You cannot send a substitute to do your work
• The organisation provides you with the equipment and tools you need to do your job
• You can use your employer's grievance procedure and you are covered by your employer's disciplinary and redundancy procedures
• You have a written contract with the organisation which refers to you as an employee or states that it is a contract of employment

It makes no difference if you are employed on a fixed term contract. You are still likely to be an employee if the factors listed above apply to you.  Individuals who are employees qualify for all statutory employment rights, subject to any qualifying periods.

Worker

Some individuals employed in casual or irregular work are classified as workers for the purposes of employment law. 'Workers' do not benefit from 'employee'-only rights, but will benefit from other basic rights at work, including the National Minimum wage, the right to paid annual leave, and protection from unfair deductions from pay and protection from discrimination and victimisation because of trade union membership or activities.

If most of the factors below apply to you, you are likely to be a worker:

• Your employer has no obligation to offer work and you are not required to accept work if it is offered to you
• Any written contract you have with the organisation describes your working relationship as 'casual', 'freelance', 'zero hours' or 'as required'
• You are expected to do your work yourself
• The organisation deducts tax and national insurance from your wages
• The organisation provides you with the equipment and tools you need to do your job

Self-employed

If most of the factors below apply to you, you are likely to be self employed:

• You are responsible for paying your own tax and national insurance
• You bid or provide quotes to secure work and then submit invoices to receive payment
• You have specific jobs or targets to complete, although you decide when and how to do the work
• You do not have to carry out the work personally - you can hire another person to do the work or hire other helpers at your own expense
• You are not under direct supervision when you are working
• You are responsible for meeting any losses, as well as taking profits from your own work
• You do not receive any holiday pay or sick pay from the organisation when you are unavailable for work
• You provide major items of equipment or materials that are a fundamental requirement to complete a job
• You have to correct unsatisfactory work in your own time and at your own expense
• You might provide your services to a number of different clients

The rights for part-time workers have also been improved recently and they are entitled to many more benefits then previously.