All employees and workers are legally entitled to be provided with a statement of their employment terms and conditions on or before their first day at work. Many people think this is a contract but a contract of employment is much more detailed and sets out the full terms and conditions, rights and responsibilities in detail. This provides better protection for the employer.
The most important part is to decide on the employment status of the individual. Are they an employee, a worker, or are they truly self employed. The correct terms must be applied.
Employment contracts are complex, to say the least, but you’re in safe hands with us!
Simplistically, with an employee they have to perform the work you want them to do personally and they can only be absent from work for occasions such as sickness absence, maternity or adoption leave. The employee has full employment rights.
A worker is offered work which they can refuse but having accepted it they again have to perform the work personally. A worker has more limited employment rights. Both accrue statutory holiday and must be paid National Minimum wage or Living wage.
A self employed contractor on the other hand has no employment rights so does not benefit from holiday pay or statutory sick pay and is responsible for their own tax and national insurance. An important element to deciding self employed status is that they can provide a substitute to do the work for them.