Worker vs Employee Status

Employment status decides which rights you actually have, and it is not something your employer gets to choose by writing a label on a contract. Most people are either employees or workers — sometimes called limb (b) workers — and a smaller number are genuinely self-employed. The gap between the categories is wide: unfair dismissal protection, sick pay and redundancy pay all turn on it. This comparison shows what each status carries, and where the boundaries are most often argued about.

Tip: scroll the table sideways to see all columns →

Feature	Employee	Worker
Unfair dismissal protection	Yes (after 2 years)
National Minimum Wage
Statutory holiday pay	Yes — 5.6 weeks	Yes — 5.6 weeks
Statutory sick pay
Auto-enrolment pension		Yes (if qualifying earnings)
Redundancy pay	Yes (after 2 years)

Employment status is determined by the real nature of the working relationship, not what the contract says. If you think your status has been incorrectly labelled, you can make a claim to an Employment Tribunal or contact Acas.

Working out your real status

Three things decide it, and none of them is the wording of your contract. First, personal service: must you turn up yourself, or can you genuinely send a substitute? A real, usable right of substitution points towards self-employment. Second, control: does the other party decide what you do, when and how? Third, mutuality of obligation: is there an ongoing commitment to offer and accept work? Employees score highly on all three. Workers have personal service and some control but no ongoing obligation between engagements. The genuinely self-employed run their own business and carry their own commercial risk.

Fixed rota, told what to do, cannot send anyone else? You are very likely an employee whatever the paperwork says.
Pick up shifts when offered, no obligation either way? Worker status is the usual answer, carrying minimum wage, holiday pay and pension.
Several clients, your own equipment, you can profit or lose on a job? That points to genuine self-employment.

The mistake that hurts people most is accepting a self-employed label because it came with a slightly higher headline rate. That trade often means giving up holiday pay worth several weeks a year, sick pay, pension contributions and any protection if the work stops.

Status can also differ between employment law and tax law, so being taxed as self-employed does not settle whether you are a worker for holiday pay purposes. If in doubt, contact Acas before your time limit to bring a claim runs out.

Frequently asked questions

Can I challenge my status if I think I have been labelled wrongly?

Yes. Employment tribunals look at how the relationship actually worked in practice, not at the label used, and they regularly find that people described as self-employed contractors were really workers or employees. You would typically bring the status point alongside the underlying claim — unpaid holiday pay, unlawful deductions, or unfair dismissal. Start with Acas early conciliation, and gather rotas, messages showing how work was allocated, and anything indicating you could not realistically send a substitute.

What can I claim if I was wrongly treated as self-employed?

The most common claim is unpaid holiday pay, since workers accrue 5.6 weeks a year and a wrongly labelled contractor will have received none. Unpaid minimum wage and unlawful deductions from wages often follow. If the tribunal finds you were an employee rather than a worker, sick pay, redundancy pay and unfair dismissal protection can come into play as well. Time limits are short — generally three months less one day — and back pay is limited, so raise it while the engagement is recent.

Does having a limited company mean I cannot be a worker?

Not automatically. Tribunals look through arrangements that exist only on paper, and someone required to work personally under the client's control may still be a worker despite invoicing through a company. That said, an established company with several clients, its own staff and genuine commercial risk points firmly the other way. Tax status under the off-payroll rules is decided separately from employment status, so the two can come out differently for the same engagement.

Do agency staff have any employment rights?

Yes. Agency workers are generally workers, so minimum wage, paid holiday, rest breaks and pension auto-enrolment apply. After twelve weeks in the same role, agency worker rules also entitle you to the same basic pay and working conditions as a directly recruited employee doing that job. Who owes you what can be genuinely unclear between agency and hirer, so keep your assignment paperwork, timesheets and payslips, and ask the agency in writing which entity is your employer.

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Disclaimer

The information on this page was correct at the time of writing. Amounts, thresholds, and rules may change. Always check the latest official guidance.