Contractor Let Go? UK Law May Give You More Rights Than You Think

When a contractor engagement ends, the assumption is usually that nothing is owed beyond whatever the contract provides. In many cases that assumption is correct. In others — more than most people realise — it is not.

Three Categories, Three Very Different Outcomes

UK employment law recognises three distinct categories of working person, and the rights attached to each are significantly different.

A true self-employed person or freelancer sets their own hours, can send a substitute to perform the work, and operates without day-to-day direction from the client. No statutory redundancy rights apply.

A worker occupies the middle ground — some protections around pay and leave, but generally no redundancy entitlement.

A disguised employee — sometimes called an IR35 worker — is the category most contractors do not expect to find themselves in. If in practice you work set hours, you are directed by a manager, you cannot send a substitute, and you have been in that arrangement for more than two years, an Employment Tribunal may determine that you are legally an employee. The label on your contract does not prevent that finding.

What Follows From That Determination

If a tribunal finds you are legally an employee, the consequences are significant. Statutory redundancy pay, notice period pay, and unfair dismissal protection may all become available — retrospectively, based on your actual length of service.

The Tests Tribunals Apply

Three questions dominate the analysis: Do you personally perform the work (personal service)? Does the client control how, when, and where you work (control)? Is there an ongoing expectation of work and payment (mutuality of obligation)?

If the answers lean toward employment, tribunals tend to find employment — regardless of contractual language designed to say otherwise.

Time Limit

Three months minus one day from the date your engagement ended. ACAS Early Conciliation is required first.

For plain-English guidance on employment status and contractor rights visit myredundancyrights.co.uk/my-rights

Contractor & Redundancy Rights