Back to basics – what rights are afforded to different types of worker?

According to figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy released earlier this year, 2.8 million Britons did at least some work in the so-called gig economy in 2017.

This statistic might perhaps not be newsworthy were it not for the various court cases that have been around over the past 2 years concerning ‘gig economy workers’ – Uber and Pimlico Plumbers being the most high profile of these. Both cases called into question the rights of individuals when undertaking work for companies, along with the various entitlements and protections different employment statuses infer.

Worker

Workers will often undertake work on an ‘ad-hoc’ or occasional basis for a specific business and terms like ‘casual’, ‘freelance’, ‘zero hours’, ‘as required’ are often included in their contracts.

Rights

Workers may be entitled to maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave pay but will not usually get the associated leave that is afforded to employees.

Employee

Rights

In addition, an employee has the right to time off for emergencies, the right to request flexible working and the right to a minimum notice period if their employer decides to terminate the employment contract.

Contractor

A self-employed contractor is responsible for their own conditions of work and costs of obtaining and performing that work.

Can the individual turn down work offered? Can they choose their own hours? Do they provide their own equipment or tools to complete the work required As an employer, do you guarantee an individual a particular amount of work? Rights

Self-employed individuals that undertake work for a company don’t have any of the employment rights of employees or workers.

Tips for employers:

A periodic review of your current workforce; considering whether individuals are in fact under appropriate contracts or not; certainly does no harm. For more information or assistance in any matter relating to employment status, please get in touch with KMC Human Resources.