New Acas guidance on gig economy working and employment status rights
14 July 2017
Acas has launched new and updated guidance to help employers and their staff understand the many different types of employment arrangements that exist in the modern workplace and their legal entitlements.
The revised guidance is released against the backdrop of Matthew Taylor's review on modern workplaces and reflects changes to the way in which people work, are expected to work in the future, and follows recent legal cases about employment status.
Acas Head of Guidance, Stewart Gee, said:
"We have seen changes in the way many people are working over recent years, with a heightened focus on gig economy working.
Many businesses and their staff may not realise that a working person's employment rights very much depends on their status. A person who is self-employed or defined as a worker is likely to have different legal rights to someone else who is considered an employee.
We know that people find this a confusing area of the law so we have updated our advice to provide some clarity on the various different types of ways that people can work and the employment rights that they are entitled to."
There are three main types of employment status:
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Employee
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Worker
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Self-employed
Employment rights for workers include basic entitlements such as the national minimum wage, holiday pay and protection against unlawful discrimination. Employees have the same rights but can receive more rights such as maternity or paternity leave, itemised pay slips and the right to request flexible working.
Acas' new revised full guidance includes a larger focus on people who are self-employed and umbrella companies.