Worker status & pay
What is a worker?
A worker is someone engaged to perform work personally who is not running a business for a client. Workers have fewer rights than employees but substantially more than the self-employed.
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<img src="https://agencyoptix.co.uk/glossary/worker/diagram.svg" alt="worker — diagram from AgencyOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://agencyoptix.co.uk/glossary/worker">What is a worker?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://agencyoptix.co.uk">AgencyOptix</a>
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</figure>The core worker rights are the ones that cost money: the minimum wage, paid holiday, rest breaks and protection from unlawful deductions. Most agency temporaries are workers.
The test is about personal service and the absence of a genuine client relationship, not about what the contract says. A substitution clause that is never used in practice carries very little weight.
Holiday pay is the most common area of dispute, both in how it is accrued and in how it is communicated — particularly where rolled-up pay has been used.
What goes wrong in practice
- Worker status assumed away by a contract term describing self-employment.
- Holiday accrual not explained, so workers do not know what they have.
- Rest break entitlements overlooked on long shifts.