Your employment status determines what legal rights you have. This guide explains the difference between employee, worker, and self-employed in UK law — and why it matters.
Employment status is one of the most fundamental concepts in UK employment law — and one of the most contested. Whether you are an employee, a worker, or self-employed determines which rights you have, what tax you pay, and how much protection you get if things go wrong.
An employee is someone who works under a contract of employment (also called a contract of service). Employees have the full suite of employment rights, including:
A worker is a broader category covering those who work under a contract to personally perform work or services for someone who is not their client or customer. Workers have some but not all employment rights:
Workers are entitled to:
Workers are NOT entitled to:
Workers include many gig economy workers, casual workers, and those on zero-hours contracts.
Someone who is genuinely self-employed runs their own business, bears their own financial risk, and is effectively a client/customer of the business they work for. Genuinely self-employed people have very few employment law rights.
Self-employed people:
Employment status is determined by the actual working relationship — not what the contract says. Courts will look at the reality, not the label. A contract that calls someone "self-employed" will be disregarded if the working arrangements show they are actually an employee or worker.
For employee status:
Against employee status (pointing to worker or self-employed):
As set out above — employee status gives the most protection, self-employed the least.
For contractors working through limited companies, IR35 rules determine whether HMRC treats the relationship as employment for tax purposes, even if the contract says otherwise. See our IR35 Explained guide.
Employers sometimes deliberately (or negligently) classify people as self-employed when they are actually workers or employees — to avoid paying NMW, holiday pay, or employer NI contributions. This is unlawful.
High-profile cases: Uber BV v Aslam [2021] (Supreme Court held Uber drivers are workers); Pimlico Plumbers Ltd v Smith [2018] (Supreme Court held plumber was a worker).
If you believe you are misclassified, you can:
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