generalemployment-status

Employment status — worker vs employee vs self-employed

Your rights depend on your status. Employees get the full set; "limb (b) workers" get holiday, minimum wage and discrimination protection but not unfair dismissal; the genuinely self-employed get almost none.

Last reviewed: 27 May 2026 by panel solicitor2 min read

The short answer

Three categories: employee (full rights, s.230(1) ERA), worker (holiday, NMW, discrimination protection, s.230(3)(b) ERA), self-employed (almost nothing). The label in your contract is not decisive — tribunals look at the reality. Legal basis: ERA 1996 s.230.

Why status matters

UK employment law has three categories, and your rights flow from which one you fall into. The label in your contract is not decisive — tribunals look at the reality of the working relationship (Autoclenz v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41; Uber v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5).

Employee

Defined in s.230(1) ERA 1996 — works under a contract of employment with mutual obligation (employer must offer work, you must accept) and personal service. Full rights: unfair dismissal (after 2 years, or day one from October 2026), statutory redundancy, statutory notice, family-friendly leave, etc.

Worker ("limb (b)")

Defined in s.230(3)(b) ERA 1996 — does work personally for someone who is not their client. Broader than employee. Includes most gig-economy workers (Uber drivers, Deliveroo riders depending on the model). Core rights:

National Minimum Wage (NMWA 1998)
Paid holiday (Working Time Regulations 1998 reg 13)
Rest breaks (WTR 1998)
Protection from unlawful deductions from wages (ERA 1996 s.13)
Protection from whistleblowing detriment (PIDA 1998)
Discrimination protection (Equality Act 2010)
Pension auto-enrolment

No statutory: redundancy pay, unfair dismissal, family-friendly leave, statutory notice.

Self-employed (genuine)

A business in their own right. No employment rights, but full control over their work, can substitute who does it, takes commercial risk, has multiple clients. Tax position separate (CEST tool, IR35).

Tests tribunals apply

Mutuality of obligation, personal service (can you send a substitute?), control, integration into the business, who provides equipment, who bears financial risk, what the parties say (but not decisive).

What to do if you think you're misclassified

Write to the employer asking for clarification. If denied rights you believe you're entitled to (e.g. holiday pay), you can claim unlawful deductions from wages (s.13 ERA 1996) or unpaid holiday (WTR 1998) at tribunal — within 3 months less one day of the last underpayment.

What to do this week

If you think you're a worker mis-labelled as self-employed, write to the company asking for confirmation of your status — the response (or non-response) is evidence at tribunal.

Sources

Employment Rights Act 1996 Read on legislation.gov.uk
Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 Read on legislation.gov.uk
National Minimum Wage Act 1998 Read on legislation.gov.uk
Equality Act 2010 — sections 4 Read on legislation.gov.uk
Working Time Regulations 1998 — sections 13 Read on legislation.gov.uk

Last reviewed 27 May 2026 by an SRA-authorised solicitor on our panel.

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