Contractor versus Employee versus Worker

In order to determine your employment status, a number of questions need to be addressed:

Do you have a contract of employment?
What does the contract of employment state?
Is the contract clear about the terms of agreement?
Is what happens in practice different from what is stated in the contract?
Is your employer obliged to provide work?
Are you obliged to accept work?
When is the obligation triggered?
Have practices developed into a pattern over a period of time?
Are you told what to do and how to do it?
Do you determine what needs to be done and in what way?
Can you appoint a substitute or must you provide the service personally?
Are you obliged to follow/use the internal rules etc. of the organisation?
Do you use your own equipment or wear a uniform?
What are your tax and National Insurance arrangements?
Are you restricted in who else you can work for?
Are you penalised, for example, not offered work for a time, for refusing to work?

Legal definition of an employee

The legal definition of an employee, a contract of employment and a worker can be found in article 3 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

Basic employment rights at a glance

Right/Protection	Employee	Worker	Independent Contractor
Right to not be unfairly dismissed (after one year’s service)	Yes	No	No
Right to receive written statement of particulars/terms and conditions	Yes	No	No
Itemised payslip	Yes	No	No
Statutory minimum notice	Yes	No	No
Statutory redundancy pay (after two years’ service)	Yes	No	No
Protection against discrimination in the workplace	Yes	Yes	Possibly
National Minimum Wage	Yes	Yes	No
Protection against unlawful deduction from wages	Yes	Yes	No
Paid annual leave	Yes	Yes	No
Right to daily and weekly rest breaks	Yes	Yes	No
Pension auto-enrolment	Yes	Yes	No
Right to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing	Yes	Yes	No
Rights under data protection legislation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Whistle-blowing protection	Yes	Yes	Possibly
Protection under anti- discrimination law	Yes	Yes	Yes
Statutory sick pay	Yes	Possibly	No
Guaranteed payments	Yes	No	No
Shared parental leave and pay (if qualifying criteria are met)	Yes	No	No
Unpaid time off to care for dependants	Yes	No	No
Right to request flexible working	Yes	No	No
Time off rights (in general)	Yes	No	No
Right not to suffer detriment in certain contexts	Yes	Possibly	No
Protection under TUPE legislation	Yes	No	No
Certain payments on insolvency	Yes	No	Possibly
Health and safety in the workplace	Yes	Yes	Yes