[kratos90]

I'm filling in some forms and I'm in full-time education but I'm not sure I should put that I'm in part-time employment. The company I work for has given me a statement of terms of enagement/assignment and in it, it says 'it is not an employment contract' and 'does not infer any employment rights on you'. The company is not obliged to give me work and I am not obliged to do work.

I choose my shifts and in practice, I work at least 2 days per week. I read that there are many different definitions of employment. The generally accepted definition for unemployment was 'someone who is not working, but is able and is looking for work'. So, am I officially recognized by the government as being employed?

[Norton1]

The best thing to do is probably ask whoever has given you the forms. I suspect the exact legal nature of your work will not be relevant.

[WillowLeaves]

Do you have anything that is actually an employment contract? Often companies will give you a lot of paperwork at different stages of the recruitment/referencing process, so some of it will say that it's not a contract just to make it clear what is what and to distinguish things like letter of acceptance from the actual contract. Also, a contract of employment doesn't necessarily need to be written even though it usually is; therefore, if you have a verbal equivalent of a contract, then it most likely counts. In terms of payment (assuming you are paid by your employer), the definition of "worker" for the purposes of National Minimum Wage payment is that you have to (1) have set times and responsibilities (2) do work that is of value to your employer. If you fulfil these conditions, then you are a "worker" and thus are in employment.

As an aside, are you by any chance employed by an HR consultancy (like Reed, Brook Street etc.) and placed on an assignment in another company? Usually HR consultancies have the kind of language you describe in their paperwork to make it clear that as a contractor, you aren't entitled to being given work constantly and so on (essentially to make it clear that they will place you when a client approaches them with a suitable request but it's not their responsibility to seek out work for you).

[kratos90]

(Original post by WillowLeaves)
Do you have anything that is actually an employment contract? Often companies will give you a lot of paperwork at different stages of the recruitment/referencing process, so some of it will say that it's not a contract just to make it clear what is what and to distinguish things like letter of acceptance from the actual contract. Also, a contract of employment doesn't necessarily need to be written even though it usually is; therefore, if you have a verbal equivalent of a contract, then it most likely counts. In terms of payment (assuming you are paid by your employer), the definition of "worker" for the purposes of National Minimum Wage payment is that you have to (1) have set times and responsibilities (2) do work that is of value to your employer. If you fulfil these conditions, then you are a "worker" and thus are in employment.

As an aside, are you by any chance employed by an HR consultancy (like Reed, Brook Street etc.) and placed on an assignment in another company? Usually HR consultancies have the kind of language you describe in their paperwork to make it clear that as a contractor, you aren't entitled to being given work constantly and so on (essentially to make it clear that they will place you when a client approaches them with a suitable request but it's not their responsibility to seek out work for you).

I only have one contract and it specifically says it is not an employment contract. I work about 2 days a week consistently, I don't have set times, but when I do work get paid for a minimum of 6 hours, even if I do less. I also gave the company a P46 form when joining the company.

I work for a retail support company that has many customers nationwide, such as M&S, B&Q, Tesco etc. and I work at the clients' sites. I will put on forms that I have part-time work, but I was also curious as to whether or not I would be on government statistics as employed.

[WillowLeaves]

(Original post by kratos90)
I only have one contract and it specifically says it is not an employment contract. I work about 2 days a week consistently, I don't have set times, but when I do work get paid for a minimum of 6 hours, even if I do less. I also gave the company a P46 form when joining the company.

I work for a retail support company that has many customers nationwide, such as M&S, B&Q, Tesco etc. and I work at the clients' sites. I will put on forms that I have part-time work, but I was also curious as to whether or not I would be on government statistics as employed.

I think you do have set times based on what you say because by that, the law basically means that you can't just turn up or leave randomly (unlike a person hanging around their uncle's workshop, for instance). So then you are legally a worker but if you're in full-time education, you'd probably go on the statistics as being in education since normally those stats go by the primary occupation/status of each person. However, if you were not in full-time education and this job was the only thing you did, you'd be on the stats as being in employment.

[evantej]

(Original post by kratos90)
I only have one contract and it specifically says it is not an employment contract. I work about 2 days a week consistently, I don't have set times, but when I do work get paid for a minimum of 6 hours, even if I do less. I also gave the company a P46 form when joining the company.

I work for a retail support company that has many customers nationwide, such as M&S, B&Q, Tesco etc. and I work at the clients' sites. I will put on forms that I have part-time work, but I was also curious as to whether or not I would be on government statistics as employed.

You will be classed as in full-time education.

So far as the contractual issues are concerned, I assume you have been given something which explicitly states that it is not a contract because it would imply that there are conditions attached to your working. For example, you would be set x amount of permanent hours per weeks, fixed location, or end period. The same 'distinction' is made in temporary contracts where certain benefits are only conferred upon employees who have been working more than one year.

[kpwxx]

(Original post by kratos90)
I'm filling in some forms and I'm in full-time education but I'm not sure I should put that I'm in part-time employment. The company I work for has given me a statement of terms of enagement/assignment and in it, it says 'it is not an employment contract' and 'does not infer any employment rights on you'. The company is not obliged to give me work and I am not obliged to do work.

I choose my shifts and in practice, I work at least 2 days per week. I read that there are many different definitions of employment. The generally accepted definition for unemployment was 'someone who is not working, but is able and is looking for work'. So, am I officially recognized by the government as being employed?

As said above, best to contract whoever wants the form and ask.

For example, if it was a hc1 form for reduced/free healthcare costs then I would guess they'd say to put out down as that is interested in your income (though you might write it in the additional comments section rather than employment).

xxx

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