What you call your arrangement does not change what it actually is.
“WorkerA legal category that sits between employee and self-employed. Workers are entitled to certain rights including national minimum wage, paid holiday, and protection from unlawful deduction from wages, ... status found to be employment despite self-employment agreement”
The label on your working arrangement does not determine your legal status. What matters is how the arrangement actually operates in practice.
- If your hours are set by the person you work for, you cannot send a substitute without their approval, and the day-to-day reality looks like a job, you may be an employee regardless of what your contract says.
- A written self-employment agreement and a history of invoicing will not override the reality of how you actually work.
- If you believe you have been wrongly classified as self-employed, get advice before raising a claim. You may be entitled to rights, including redundancyA dismissal that occurs when your employer no longer needs the work you do, either because the business is closing, a workplace is closing, or the requirement for employees to carry out that kind of w... pay and notice pay, that you were told you did not have.
The situation
A science and maths teacher worked at a small independent school for seven years. The school owner set her timetable, observed her lessons, and chose the exam boards. She signed the safeguarding policy. If she could not attend, cover had to be arranged. Both parties had agreed she was self-employedA working arrangement where you are in business on your own account rather than working under a contract of employment. The label your employer gives the arrangement does not determine your status —.... She invoiced the school and handled her own tax and national insurance.
When the school closed suddenly after an Ofsted inspection, she claimed a redundancy paymentA payment you are entitled to if you are made redundant and have at least two years of continuous employment. The amount is calculated using your age, weekly pay, and length of service, following a st... and notice pay. The school said she was self-employed and owed her nothing.
What the tribunal found
The tribunal found she was an employee.
Employment Judge Wright applied the Ready Mixed Concrete test: personal service, sufficient control, and an arrangement consistent with a contract of employment. On all three counts, the answer pointed the same way. She worked the hours the owner set. She could not send a substitute without his agreement. The day-to-day reality was indistinguishable from that of the employed teaching staff. The invoices and the tax arrangements changed none of it.
There was also a footnote worth noting. The tribunal said HMRC would be informed of the finding.
Groves v Mr N Faulkner t/a The Drive Prep School. Case 2309481/2025. London South Employment Tribunal. May 2026.