Contractor or employee?

Particularly in the current economic situation, many employers are taking people on to work under contract to give more flexibility and avoid payment for benefits and entitlements such as paid maternity leave, holidays, redundancy pay etc.  But it is often unclear whethe the line is drawn between employee and self-employed contractor, especially when contracts are all or partially verbal.

The basic approach of the courts is to identify the factors present and weigh those that point to self-employment against those that point the other way.

HMRC has a status indicator tool on the website, and there is more information on our FAQs page.