How an industrial tribunal decides your employment status, the rights workers get in Northern Ireland, including the minimum wage and paid holiday, and where to get free advice from the Labour Relations Agency.
Describe what has happened. The checker answers only from this guide, plus what you tell it, and says so if something is not covered.
Check My Status →People in Northern Ireland who work through an app or platform, or on casual or freelance terms, and want to know whether they are a worker or self-employed and what rights that gives them.
An industrial tribunal looks at four main things:
Then: what has gone wrong, and when? Most claims must be made within 3 months less 1 day.
Think of a sliding scale, with employee at one end and genuinely self-employed at the other. The more the answers to the questions above point to you being in business on your own account, the more likely you are to be self-employed.
If you can decide when you will work and turn down work when offered, the business offers work only as it becomes available, and you are not in business on your own account, you are likely to be a worker rather than an employee.
Most agency workers, short-term casual workers and some freelancers are likely to be workers but not employees.
This is guidance only. A definitive answer can only be given by an industrial tribunal or court.
The label does not settle it: the tribunal looks at all the circumstances. In some limited cases you can be self-employed for tax but a worker or an employee for employment rights.
In 2021 the UK Supreme Court decided that the Uber drivers in that case were workers, not self-employed contractors (Uber BV v Aslam). That case was decided under Great Britain's law and was about those drivers. Ask the LRA how your own situation fits.
If the business is refusing you a right, such as holiday pay, because it says you are self-employed, try to resolve it with them directly first. A trade union representative may be able to help.
Providing any other qualifying conditions are met, all workers have rights to: the National Minimum Wage; rest breaks, paid holiday and limits on night work; protection against unauthorised deductions from pay; maternity, paternity and adoption pay (but not leave); protection if you make a disclosure in the public interest (whistleblowing); and not to be discriminated against unlawfully.
You need to be classed as a worker to have the right to paid holiday. The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks a year.
Employees also have rights to statutory sick pay, maternity, adoption and paternity leave and pay, the right not to be unfairly dismissed and redundancy pay. Some of these need a minimum length of continuous employment.
If you are a worker, you must get at least the minimum wage for your age. From 1 April 2026 the hourly rates are: £12.71 at 21 and over; £10.85 at 18 to 20; £8.00 under 18; and £8.00 for apprentices.
The rates are the same in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, contact the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) on 03300 555 300.
The genuinely self-employed are not covered by the minimum wage.
The right not to be unfairly dismissed and redundancy pay are employee rights.
Whistleblowing protection covers workers. If you were dropped after reporting wrongdoing, use the whistleblowing checker.
Protection against unlawful discrimination also covers workers. For enquiries about discrimination, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
If you think you may be an employee, not just a worker, ask the LRA: unfair dismissal depends on it. Otherwise, check the terms you agreed with the platform.
Raise it with the client first. As a self-employed person your rights are set by the contract you have with your client. To claim money you are owed, use the small claims checker.
You pay your own tax and National Insurance if you are self-employed. Your status for tax can be different from your status for employment rights. If you are a contractor, the IR35 rules might apply: use the IR35 checker.
Labour Relations Agency (LRA): 03300 555 300. Early conciliation, and free, confidential and impartial advice on employment rights. The LRA does not advise on whether your own claim will succeed.
Equality Commission for Northern Ireland: 028 9050 0600. Enquiries about equality or discrimination at work.
If you are in a trade union, it can give you help, advice and support.
Advice NI: 0800 915 4604
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