LAW-RIGHTS IN EMPLOYMENT PS

Law-RIGHTS IN EMPLOYMENT PS

Law-RIGHTS IN EMPLOYMENT PS

Case Overview

It is very important to find out what your employment status is. Many employment rights, such as the right not to be unfairly dismissed, and the right to redundancy pay, rely on you being an employee.

It is common for an employer to call someone self-employed, or a 'casual worker' or a 'trainee', when that person is really an employee. Employers do this in order to avoid having to pay tax and national insurance for their employees and to try to avoid them having employment rights. It is irrelevant what your employer calls you, whether you are known, for example, as self employed, an agency worker, or a casual worker. In addition, just because you pay tax and national insurance as a 'self-employed' person, it does not automatically follow that you are actually self-employed rather than an employee. What matters is what happens in practice about how you work, who decides what work you do and what you are expected to do by your employer.

Discussion

The following factor can help Amy to show that she is the employee of this organization and to find out what are her employment rights :-

does your employer tell you what work to do and how to do it (even if you are left alone to actually carry out the work). Does your employer provide you with work, or do you have to go out and find your own work to do. If your employer controls the work to be done and provides the work, you will be an employee

how you are paid. If you are paid a regular amount of pay at regular intervals, rather than being paid per job done, this indicates you are an employee

who is responsible for getting the work done. If you have to find someone else, such as a sub-contractor or a friend, to do the work if you are unable to, this would indicate you are self-employed. If your employer finds someone else to do the work if, for example, you are off sick, this would indicate you are an employee

who provides tools and materials to do the work. If your employer is responsible for supplying main tools and machinery and materials, with you responsible for supplying only a few of your own tools, you are likely to be an employee.

If, after reading through the factors under the heading How to tell if you are an employee or not, you think you are an employee, you will have a contract of employment. This does not have to be written down. A contract of employment is agreed between the employer and the employee and can be a verbal contract.

If you are still not sure whether or not you are an employee, you should speak to an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by ...