Employment Status

It is very important to be clear on the status of those engaged to work for you. It is possible that a person may be employed, a worker or self employed (whether through their own limited company or as an individual).

The reason it is important to establish the status of an individual from the outset is because there is likely to be both employment law and tax implications, for example employees are entitled to many employment rights and employers must deduct tax and national insurance at source from an employee’s wages whereas a worker may not be subject to such a high level of employment rights and a self employed individual is responsible for their own tax.

Ultimately it is up to a court or tribunal to decide the status; however we are well equipped to be able to provide you with an opinion so that you are fully aware of the risks associated with engaging an employee, worker or self employed contractor.

The next step will be to ensure that you have the correct contract in place that reflects the reality of the situation. This contract is likely to either be an employment contract, casual worker agreement or a consultancy agreement.

The employment status calculator on the revenue website is a very useful tool for determining whether a person is likely to be considered an employee.