Worker Status Assertion Letter: Free Template and What to Include

If you need to assert your status as a worker rather than self-employed to a gig platform, a written letter is the recommended first step — it creates a clear record and shows you're pursuing the matter formally. Below is what a strong worker status assertion should include.

What this letter needs to cover

• Set out the facts demonstrating worker status including control
• Integration
• Exclusivity of service
• Inability to substitute
• Reference the Supreme Court Uber ruling 2021
• Assert entitlement to worker rights including NMW
• Holiday pay and rest breaks
• Request formal acknowledgment of worker status and confirmation of rights

Why worker status matters so much in the gig economy

Being classified as "self-employed" by a platform doesn't automatically make it legally accurate — courts look at the actual reality of the relationship, including control over how work is done, whether you can genuinely send a substitute, and how much independence you truly have. Several major tribunal and Supreme Court cases have found gig platform staff to be workers despite contracts stating otherwise.

What to include before you send it

• A clear description of how the platform actually controls your work — set rates, required acceptance rates, restricted ability to decline work
• Reference to relevant case law supporting worker status in comparable circumstances
• A clear assertion that you should be treated as a worker, with associated rights
• A request for the platform to confirm your status and associated entitlements

What worker status actually gets you

Worker status brings entitlement to National Minimum Wage, statutory holiday pay, rest breaks, and protection from unlawful deductions — genuine self-employment doesn't carry these protections, which is exactly why correct classification matters so much financially.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between a worker and an employee?
Workers have fewer rights than employees (no unfair dismissal protection, for example) but more than genuinely self-employed contractors — it's a middle category specifically relevant to much gig economy work.

What if the platform disputes my worker status?
You can pursue this through an Employment Tribunal, which will look at the actual working relationship rather than simply accepting the platform's own contractual labels.

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Postcode]
[Your Telephone Number]
[Your Email Address]
[Name of Contact / HR Department]
[Company / Platform Name]
[Company Address]
[Company Postcode]
[Date]

Dear [Name of Contact, or "Sir / Madam"],

Subject: My worker status

I am writing to ask you to review my status with [Company / Platform Name]. I work for you as a [Your Role, e.g. delivery driver] and am classed as an independent contractor. Based on how our working relationship actually works, I believe I am a "worker" under section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 [in Northern Ireland: the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996].

In Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5, the Supreme Court said that worker status depends on the reality of the relationship, not on what the contract calls it. I believe I am a worker because:
• Personal service: I must do the work personally and cannot realistically send a substitute.
• Control: you control my work, including [e.g. setting my rates of pay, monitoring my performance through the app, logging me off if I turn down work].
• Integration: I do not run my own business; I work as part of your operation.

As a worker, I am entitled to core rights, including:
• The National Minimum Wage under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.
• Paid annual leave under the [Working Time Regulations 1998 / in Northern Ireland: Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016].
• Rest breaks and a limit on weekly working hours.

Please confirm in writing within 14 days that you accept I am a worker, and how you will work out and pay any backdated entitlements.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Signature]
[Your Printed Name]