Critically review the case law concerning the ascertainment of Essay

Critically review the case law concerning the ascertainment of employee status and consider whether the current tests are fit fo - Essay Example Moreover, employees usually are taxed within a diverse tax regime; under the PAYE, while the self-employed usually pay their taxes at the end of each tax year. This is due to the fact that self employed work generally falls under a contract for services while the employed work under a contract of services1. Nonetheless, there is a certain amount of ambiguity linked to the legal formula by which workers are categorized. In this view, the effectiveness of the law may be questioned. Furthermore, some perceive that the current classifications have grown to become too rigid to deal efficiently with the advancement of non-standard employment forums. Such queries have proved to be the subject of many policy-oriented and legal analyses for the last two decades. Many studies have looked into employers’ reasons as to why the employed flexible forms of work. This paper offers a critical review of the given law as it relates to the means by which employee status and a consideration as to whether the current tests are suitable for purpose. The ‘worker’ concept One way for augmenting the number of people covered by employment law includes the use of the wider definition of worker and not employee as the basis for determining protective legislation2. This would include even people who do not have employment contracts but still contract to offer their own individual services to their employers. To some extent, they are economically dependent on the business of their employer. In some way, this broader definition is useful for fair treatment legislation and that which touches on the payment of wages. Recently, the legislation was approved by the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 as well as under regulations that implement the Working Time Directive3. Nonetheless, most of its aspects with regards to its use have remained unclear. There appears to be extremely few decisions about the distinction between a self employed worker and an employee. For this reason, it is hard to comprehend how many people would be affected by extending employment protection rights to those under the definition ‘workers’ and not ‘employees’. Employment status The hardship linked with defining workers, employees, and the self-employed, as well as the issues of giving status to individuals in non-standard work, have added several practical implications to the execution of the law in practice. Ambiguities that surround the distinction between the self-employed and employees should mean that there are many of those who enjoy employment rights without their knowledge. On the other hand, those who may thing they fall under employee category, and therefore enjoy employment rights, may turn out otherwise on close legal scrutiny. This uncertainty may mean that some employers may leave out their obligations4. The Law Governing the Classification of Employment Relationships The decisive factor by which legal classification are decided on are not put down in legislation, however, they have been hugely developed through what is known as Case Law. In particular, four tests are relied on: ‘Integration’, ‘Control’, ‘mutuality of obligation’, and ‘business reality’. Behind such states are a known determinant that includes the means of payment, the stability and the overall length of the employment relationship, as well as the degree of coverage of