What’s the STATUS of those working for you?

Do you have three different types of people working for you? Different because of their employment “status?”

Or are you in one of the three different status employment groups?

Employment status affects everyone who works. Areas such as pay, leave and working conditions can all depend on employment status.

People with different employment statuses have different rights set out in law. The rights are designed to protect individuals. Most of the rights are compulsory, and normally can’t be signed away.

Employment status is not just a matter of what a contract (whether oral or in writing) states; it is determined by the reality of the working relationship between employer and individual, taking account of all the circumstances including the purpose of employment legislation. The written contract is just one part of that assessment.

Although there are countless different working relationships that individuals and businesses can agree to, the law reduces these into one of three main types of status for employment rights. And there are special provisions for other groups of workers such as agency workers!

The 3 main types of employment status are:

· an employee who has the most rights and responsibilities

· a worker – sometimes referred to as ‘limb (b) workers’ who have fewer

rights and obligations. The aim of the limb (b) worker status is to extend

the coverage of certain employment rights to a wider group of individuals

than just employees, protecting a larger number of individuals who are in

dependent working relationships but are not employees.

· a self-employed person who has the least protection but also tends to

have fewer personal obligations and have significant flexibility in their work

and/or delivers a service to a customer or client as part of a business or

professional undertaking

Our one-day Basic UK Employment Law course covers these different types of worker with a focus on:-

Official guidance
Key factors in determining employment status
Special circumstances and developments in the labour market
Case studies and sectoral examples including construction, transport, business services, hospitality and health & social care

The basic UK Employment Law course covers:-

Details of statutory payment rates (statutory sick pay, maternity/paternity
pay etc) with effect from April 2025.
A brief refresher on legislation introduced in 2024, including

- rights to holiday pay- tips- flexible working- carers leave- paternity leave- redundancy protection for pregnant employees and those on family leave.

Focus on the new proactive duty to protect employees from sexual
harassment, with particular reference to the EHRC’s technical guidance.
The statutory Code of Practice on dismissal and re-engagement – where
we are now with ‘fire and rehire’.
A summary of what is proposed under the Employment Rights Bill, likely
timelines and how to prepare.
Future changes, our crystal ball!
Interesting case law developments.