Who is an employee?

This is far from being a straightforward question.

An employee is a person who enters into a contract of service with their employer - as opposed to someone who is self-employed who enters into a contract for services.

As an employee you are employed to personally work. Someone who is self-employed is paid to get a particular job done.

The standard example is that of the chauffeur and taxi driver. The chauffeur is employed to provide his service and take you everywhere you want to go. The taxi driver provides services and enters into a contract with you to take you to an agreed place for a fee. If you then want to go on elsewhere the taxi driver either enters into a new contract with you or can refuse to take you.

There are lots of types of employment labels that fall outside the definition of an "employee". You can be a casual worker, an agency worker, a fixed term worker, a freelancer, an independent contractor, a volunteer etc.

The "worker" is a third category of employment relationship in addition to employees and the self-employed. A worker does have a contract to personally perform work or services but does not have a contract of employment. It can be difficult to identify who is an employee and the labels attached to you do not always reflect the reality.

Some key features that an Employment Tribunal would look at in deciding whether a person is a worker, employee or self employed are:

Is there a mutual obligation between you and your 'employer' - does your employer have to provide you with work or pay and do you have to do the job yourself and accept the work that is offered?

The degree of control exercised by the employer over your work.

The label attached to your employment relationship - this is a factor but not decisive. If you are called an independent contractor but everything else points to you being an employee, the Tribunal may well decide that the label is incorrect.