The plumbing company is the latest employer to be put in its place over the employment status of its workers, says Spencer Keen
- It is not enough to rely on an isolated provision in a contract that, on its own, might indicate that a person was self-employed rather than a worker.
- The increase in alternative methods of employment mean it is harder to rely on a drafting technique to define the real relationship between the parties.
- Understanding how the contract functions in the context of the client’s business is vital in today’s gig economy.
The law provides that there are three categories of employment status: the self-employed who are generally regarded as being in business on their own account and control their own activities; the employed who work under employment contracts and are subject to the direction of their employer; and workers who work under a contract to provide their services personally.
The distinction between these three types of worker is not always clear. What is clear however is that, in
