2. CATEGORIES OF WORKER

Some statutory rights apply only to employees while others apply more widely to workers. This means that it is sometimes necessary to have an initial hearing to establish exactly what the claimant’s employment status is.

A tribunal will take into account a number of factors but no single factor is likely to be conclusive by itself. Previous cases have already established that for an individual to be either an employee or a worker there must be at the very minimum a “mutuality of obligations” (meaning an obligation on the employer to provide work and on the employee to accept it). What is likely to differentiate an employer from a worker, is the degree of control the employer has in the way they carry out their work.

For more information see Chapter 2 of LRD’s booklet Law at work www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=BK&iss=1621