Employees have significantly more protection under the law than contractors. They are entitled to annual leave, sick leave, bereavement leave and cannot be terminated on notice.
Uber
In the recent case Rasier Operations BV v E Tū Inc, the Court of Appeal was asked to determine whether four Uber drivers were employees of Uber or independent contractors. The Court determined that they were employees because:
- Uber exercised a high degree of control over drivers;
- Drivers are integral to the business - without them, Uber would have no services to offer.
- The drivers are not in business on their own account because Uber determines the terms of the agreement between the parties and has the power to modify these terms unilaterally.
Although the terms of the agreement between the parties attempted to move away from the drivers being employees (i.e. calling them contractors), this was only window dressing and the reality was the relationship was one of employer-employee.
Gloriavale
In August in Pilgrim v Temple, the Supreme Court declined Gloriavale leave to appeal a decision originally in the Employment Court that held that six former female members of the Gloriavale Christian community were employees while they had been in the community. Gloriavale had argued the work the former members had performed while in the community was voluntary without expected reward and without intention to create an employer-employee relationship. The Employment Court found that, while the case didn’t fall neatly within the standard test for employment status, the former members had been employees. The reasons for this included:
- The women had been required to carry out work which they were not given a choice about, and had no say on the number of hours they worked or the tasks they had to carry out; and
- The women expected to be rewarded with food and shelter in exchange for the work they did.
Conclusion
These cases illustrate that people who may not fit within the traditional conception of what an employee is, may still be considered as such under the law. Just because a business (and the individual) categorise the worker as contractor, the courts may conclude the worker is in fact an employee.
Seek advice. Call us on 03 211 0080
