Law - Employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Law - Employment - Essay Example This large segment of the workforce (sometimes referred to as 'atypical' or 'economically dependent workers') includes agency workers, casuals and freelancers. The issue is especially significant from the industrial relations point of view since economically dependent workers do not generally benefit from the protections granted to employees both by law and collective bargaining, including provisions on health and safety, information and consultation, working time, vocational training and social protection. In addition, they do not have the benefit of trade union representation. The real question from the standpoint of atypical workers appears to be; do they have, in effect, an implied contract of employment The contract of employment is accepted to be the basis of any actual employment relationship in the UK. Hence, it effectively becomes the principles of contract law that define every aspect of employment law. The courts, however, have consistently viewed the employment relationship as essentially different from most contracted relationships. This is essentially due to the fact that there is normally a distinct inequality in the actual bargaining power in such a relationship.1 Nearly one third of all individuals in the UK have working arrangements that are prone to difficulties when establishing employment status according to legal tests. These workers commonly fall between definitions of 'employee' and 'self employed' but are generally classified for legal purposes as 'self-employed'. According to Greene2, in the UK context they are most commonly termed (although not official classifications) as: 'dependent self-employed': workers who are classified as self' employed but who are often reliant on one employer 'false or bogus self-employed': an individual who objectively speaking is an employee but who, for reasons connected to the evasion of regulatory legislation is described as self-employed by themselves and/or by their employer 'borderline self-employed': an individual whose legal status (employee or self-employed) is unclear.3 The category of workers affected by this situation is broad, ranging from low paid manual workers to high-paid information technology staff, journalists and creative professionals. A worker defined as 'self employed' is usually barred from employment protection law, although they do pay lower rates of income tax and can claim back certain expenses against tax. Studies indicate that the majority of such workers in the UK are in Establish Employee Status 4 traditional job sectors (rather than high-paying creative and IT sectors). Their work is often characterised by less employment protection.4 Often these ambiguous training opportunities, increased risk of accidents, uninsured losses, longer hours and less working arrangements are compatible with those considered 'non standard', including casual, zero hours, home, agency, portfolio and freelance