Difference between workers, employees and independent contractors

ASSESSMENT (THE
EMPLOYMENT LAW)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Difference between workers, employees and independent contractors.......................................3
Implications of legal positions.....................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Employment Law in UK mainly pertains to the different legal rights and duties that are
associated with the role of both employer and employee collectively. The term employment
contract has various aspects associated with it where every person working with the organisation
might not necessarily be termed as its employee (Flinchbaugh and et.al., 2020). The following
essay will clearly distinguish the work roles and rights of workers, employees and independent
contractors individually. This will be analysed in context of the published literature and various
employment laws of UK along with their case laws will also be integrated with the analysing
being done. Further in the essay the duties or responsibilities that arise legally due to the
implication of various job titles legally such as employer and employee will also be discussed in
detail. This will help in understanding that what are the consequences that can arise due to such
legal obligations which have to be fulfilled mandatorily.
MAIN BODY
Difference between workers, employees and independent contractors
The terms of employment and nature of employment contracts vary over a series of
different terms and conditions which influences the kind of employment contract being entered
into by the employees.
As per the research paper published by Hagiu and Wright (2019), they illustrate the
concept of workers stating that these are not necessarily employees but those who are bound to
the employer under a contract where they merely act as two different parties who are working
together in order to fulfil agreed term and conditions. Further, workers have the right to accept or
reject any particular offer of work that is being made to them but they also do not have the right
to many statutory employment rights. For instance, as the authors specify, a worker cannot file a
suit against unfair dismissal etc.
Elaborating on the categorisation of employees, Borthick and Smeal (2020), have stated
that the case of Cairns vs Visteon UK Ltd. can be referred for better analysis of the rights of
workers. This case law discusses the facts of Ms Cairns where she was working in Visteon for 7
years, out of which 4 years were through an agency. However, she was imposed with crime of
falsification in her time sheets but when investigated, her name was eventually cleared off.
However, when she claimed compensation against unfair dismissal, it was dismissed by the