Employee or Worker?

Hi, Donna here, and I’m back with the next of our 52 top tips. These are 52 playing cards, each one of which contains a top tip designed to help UK-based employers who have anything from one employee up to 3, 4, 500 employees. The law’s the same. It doesn’t make a difference. Whether you’re large or small, if you’re employing staff, then you do need to comply with employment legislation. 

Today’s topic’s an interesting one. It’s about whether or not somebody’s an employee or a worker. This has been in the news a lot recently to do with Uber. Whether their drivers are actually working and self-employed or whether they’re employed by the company. I’m going to read this one for you:

To fully understand whether and which employment legislation applies to who, it’s essential that staff are correctly classified. Employees can be full-time, part-time, or employed on a zero-hours contract. If the equipment is provided by the business, the employee is told what to do, when and where, they are likely to be employees. If the worker determines when they work, they use their own equipment, they have more than a couple of clients, and they’re replaceable, then they’re probably a contractor. 

Now, if you’ve got any doubt, if there are people within your organisation that you’re not a hundred percent clear about their employee status, then I really do recommend that you get it checked out. It’s not up to you, or the worker, to decide the basis on which they’re employed. It actually comes down to legislation. The expression I use, “If they look like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, they probably are a duck” regardless of whether you choose to call them a chicken, a hen, or a goose. I

f you need help, if you’re not sure about the actual status of your staff, then please feel free to give us a ring. The number is 01923 504 100. And you can contact us via the website at dohr.co.uk. Any doubts, get some advice.