Workers

The WTR regulations apply to workers rather than just employees. This means they cover any worker who has entered into, or works under a contract of employment or any other contract under which “the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party” who is not the individual’s “client or customer” under the contract. For agency workers who meet these criteria the regulations apply “as if there were a worker’s contract” between the worker and whoever is responsible for paying them (WTR regulation 36).

HSE guidance explains: “Worker means a person undertaking any work or services under a contract of employment whether that contract is oral or written. A contract of employment can in general terms be recognised as existing where someone works and that work is controlled by another person in various ways, for example, the time it is performed”.

The HSE recognises that it’s not always obvious whether there is in fact a contract of employment, for example when the work is arranged by an employment agency or carried out on a contract basis: “In such cases if there is an issue as to a worker’s employment status that status can ultimately only be determined by the courts following consideration of the particular facts”.