Worker Status: Understanding Employment & Self-Employment

Your “employment contract” determines your employment status in regard to your job. Your employment status is significant because it has an impact on your legal rights, the things to which you are entitled, and the obligations that may be placed on you. It also has an impact on the employment rights that are available to you. 

There are three categories of employment status. However, in this blog, we will only discuss worker status, their rights, and solutions for their detriment. 

There are three primary categories of employment status, which are as follows:

• Worker status 
• Employee status
• Self-employed status 
• Because employers and the individuals who do work for them have a mutual need to be informed of their rights and duties, it is essential to have certainty about whether you belong to the worker status, employee, or self-employed status.
• There is a possibility that the company for which you work has provided you with some kind of written documentation that indicates your employment status (like worker status or employee status). 
• In spite of this, the method in which you and the organization actually collaborate on projects is ultimately what will decide your employment status for the purposes of employment rights. 
• Worker status is a more fundamental kind of employment, and it refers to any individual who does labor for another person or organization, regardless of whether the relationship is informal or formalized in the form of a written or implicit contract. 
• The rights of worker status people are more fundamental than the rights of an employee, but they are more limited than the rights of someone who is self-employed. 

Out of the three various job statuses, the ‘worker status’ is the least formal option.

What factors should be taken into account to consider that the XYZ person comes under the worker status?

• A person is considered to be under the worker status if they have made a deal to carry out the job or provide the services.
• Worker status people are required to report to work regardless of whether or not they choose to do so.
• Worker-status people are not allowed to delegate any of their tasks to other individuals.
• They aren’t putting in the effort necessary to operate as a limited business (that would make them self-employed).
• A person is considered to be under the worker status if the nature of his/her job for the organization is less formal; for example, it is less organized, or it does not follow a set schedule.
• You are paid only for doing the task on your own.
• If your employer does not provide you with regular or guaranteed hours of employment, then that person will be considered working under worker status.
• You are under no responsibility to make yourself accessible for employment, but you are obligated to do the task to which you have committed.

The following are the employment rights that are guaranteed to everyone who comes under the worker status category: 

• Worker status people are entitled to get the Government Mandated Minimum Wage.
• Paid holiday
• Pay-slips
• Protection against discrimination that is contrary to the law
• Written terms (That outline your job rights and responsibilities)

Worker status people are not eligible for paid sick leave, maternity leave, or any other sort of parental leave because they are not an employee.

Worker status people include

• Contract workers
• Workers of agency 
• Freelancers (however, depending on your personal working pattern and circumstance, you might be classed as a worker or self-employed)
• Employees of zero-hours contracting companies (however, depending on your personal working pattern and circumstances, you might be classed as a worker or an employee)

There are 45.9 crore people now employed in the Indian workforce. According to a study carried out by the NSSO, out of them, 43.3 crores (or 94 percent) are employed in the unorganized sector, while the remaining 2.6 crores (or 6 percent) are employed in the organized sector.

Peoples under worker status have protection from suffering any kind of ‘detriment’ and can also have an attorney consultation if any of the following apply to you: 

• If you have a reasonable belief that your presence at work or performance of certain responsibilities would place you at a grave and immediate risk.
• If you take appropriate action on a matter pertaining to health and safety, such as filing a complaint regarding harmful working conditions.
• If you communicate to your employer the nature of the health and safety concerns worker status, people have.
  

When it is not apparent what your job position is

It is possible that the sort of agreement that you have or the nature of your working relationship will not make it evident whether you have your employment under the worker status or under employee status.

For instance, in the event that you are:

• zero-hours staff
• Bank personnel
• Participating in the so-called “gig economy” (for example, if you work through online platforms)
• When participating in an internship or a work experience placement
• Under a contract with either a set duration or an ongoing one
• Peripatetic (have no fixed work base)
• A temporary replacement

If you are involved in any of these kinds of labor, it is in your best interest to determine which of the three categories of employment status applies to your circumstances. 

This involves examining any formal agreement or agreements offered by the organization and determining how they relate to the practicalities of your working relationship with that company, or you can also have an attorney consultation to get a better understanding of the agreement.

You may, for instance, have an employment contract that states you are self-employed, but in reality, you may have less control over how, when, and whether you work, which indicates that you are more likely to be a worker or an employee.

 

Conclusion

There are three primary categories of employment status. It is possible that the sort of agreement that you have or the nature of your working relationship will not make it evident whether you have your employment under the worker status or under employee status. 

Knowing your employment status is extremely significant because it has an impact on your legal rights, the things to which you are entitled, and the obligations that may be placed on you.