---
title: "UK Workers vs Independent Contractors"
slug: "uk-workers-vs-independent-contractors"
tags: ["UK worker", "UK", "Independent contractors"]
updated: 2023-01-26T15:07:13Z
published: 2023-01-26T15:07:13Z
canonical: "resourceportal.antientropy.org/uk-workers-vs-independent-contractors"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resourceportal.antientropy.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# UK Workers vs Independent Contractors

### Who is this article for?

          

Employers in the UK looking for an alternative to hiring an independent contractor.

### Who is considered a "worker"?

The UK has another employment category called ‘workers’, which operates under [IR35](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understanding-off-payroll-working-ir35), or the Off-payroll working rules. Generally, workers are not self-employed individuals and employees and are commonly known as casual workers or agency workers. Employing workers is a significant expense, especially if you’re planning to hire many people, so it's critical to distinguish between a worker and a self-employed individual and an employee.

According to the [UK government](https://www.gov.uk/employment-status/worker), a worker is an individual who is hired to personally do work or services for a reward, which is money or benefit in kind (a promise of a contract or future work). Workers are not self-employed, or part of their LLC, wherein the employer is considered a client or customer. The relationship is mutually beneficial; the employer offers work, and the worker accepts it.

---

### Determining an individual as a worker

Here are some criteria that you can refer to to determine whether an individual is a worker.

- They engage in casual or irregular work. They are not committed to certain hours or a specific schedule.
- They occasionally do work for a specific business and work when they want to.
- The business is not obligated to offer them work.
- Terms of agreement often include words like ‘casual’, ‘freelance’, ‘zero hours’, and ‘as required’. These terms are agreed upon verbally or in writing.
- They do not run their own business like a self-employed individual. They don’t advertise their services and cannot outsource work to others.
- They are under the supervision of a manager or director during the engagement.

---

### Hiring a Worker

As a business, you are obligated to:

- Provide the worker with materials, tools, and equipment needed to do the work.
- Deduct tax and National Insurance contributions from their wages.
- Take on most, if not all financial risk

**Employment rights that workers are entitled to:**

- National Minimum Wage
- Protection against unlawful deductions from wages
- The statutory minimum level of paid holiday
- The statutory minimum length of rest breaks
- Protection against unlawful discrimination
- Protection for whistleblowers
- Not be treated less favorably if they work part-time

**Benefits workers may be entitled to:**

- Statutory sick pay
- Maternity pay
- Paternity pay
- Adoption pay
- Shared parental pay

**Benefits workers are NOT entitled to:**

- Minimum notice periods if employment is ending
- Protection against unfair dismissal
- Right to request flexible working
- Time off for emergencies
- Statutory redundancy pay

## Related

- [Who is an Independent Contractor? (UK)](/who-is-an-independent-contractor-uk.md)
- [Alternatives to Hiring an Independent Contractor (UK)](/alternatives-to-hiring-an-independent-contractor-uk.md)
- [Employer Independent Contractor Guidance (UK)](/employer-independent-contractor-guidance-uk-1.md)