Worker

Personal service is the starting point

A worker agrees to provide work or services personally for reward, without necessarily having the continuing obligations that make them an employee. The contract can be written or unwritten, and the reward can be money or a benefit.

Look at whether the person must usually do the work themselves, how much control the organisation has and whether any right to send someone else is real. The organisation should be receiving the service as an employer, not as the customer of an independent business.

Casual, freelance and zero-hours wording does not settle the status. The GOV.UK worker guidance shows that irregular work can still be worker work. The obligations during each engagement matter more than the heading on the agreement.

Worker rights still matter

Workers have important rights even when they are not employees. These include the National Minimum Wage, paid holiday, rest breaks and limits on working time, and protection from unlawful deductions and discrimination.

Worker status does not by itself bring employee-only rights such as statutory redundancy pay or ordinary unfair-dismissal protection. Other eligibility rules can still apply, including to statutory payments.

Give casual work a proper record

In Great Britain, give the required written statement when the worker starts. Keep the accepted terms, hours, pay and holiday record together, even when work is offered one shift or project at a time.

Review the status if the arrangement becomes more regular or controlled. Guaranteed work, fixed attendance and tighter supervision can change the picture.