Self-employed cleaner or really an employee? A status check

Why your status matters

GOV.UK explains that in employment law a person's employment status helps determine their rights and their employer's responsibilities. For a cleaner the practical questions are simple: do you get minimum wage and paid holiday, or are you running your own business and responsible for your own tax and insurance?

Many cleaners are told they are self-employed by an agency, a cleaning company or a client. That label is worth checking against how the work really runs day to day.

What self-employed looks like

GOV.UK says a person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure. Its page on self-employed people and contractors lists signs including that they are not under direct supervision when working, that they are responsible for paying their own National Insurance and tax, and that they work under a contract for services that describes them as self-employed or an independent contractor.

In a cleaning business that usually means you set your own prices and quote for jobs, you decide how to do the work and which products to use, you have your own clients, and you carry your own risk if a job overruns.

What a worker or employee looks like

GOV.UK describes a worker as someone with a contract or other arrangement to do work or services personally for a reward, who has only a limited right to send someone else to do it. It lists the National Minimum Wage and the statutory minimum level of paid holiday among a worker's rights.

For employees, GOV.UK says they cannot send someone else to do their work and are typically required to work regularly. If a cleaning company sets your hours, tells you how to clean, supplies the equipment, pays you by the hour and expects you personally to turn up, that pattern deserves a closer look.

The contract label is not the whole answer

ACAS says a person's employment status is based on their contract or written statement, what was agreed when they were offered the work, and the way the organisation and the individual work together. It advises checking whether the status in the contract reflects the actual work situation.

Employment law status and tax status can also differ. HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool is for checking whether someone should be classed as employed or self-employed for tax purposes, and HMRC says it stands by the results as long as the information you give is accurate and in line with its guidance.

What to do if the arrangement does not look right

Start by writing down how the arrangement works in practice: who sets the hours, who supplies the products, whether you can send a substitute, whether you can turn work down, and how you are paid. A dated record is far more useful than memory if you later need advice.

If your pay works out very low per hour after your costs, or you suspect you are being treated as self-employed when the work looks more like employment, speak to an adviser before you act. The rules above apply to Great Britain in the sources we read, and Northern Ireland has its own arrangements, so check locally. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.

What a working arrangement record should ask

A preview of our free Self-Employed Cleaner Status Check Sheet. The complete, print-ready version is sent to you by email.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Employment status: self-employed and contractor, GOV.UK
• Employment status: worker, GOV.UK
• Employment status: employee, GOV.UK
• Employment status, ACAS
• Check employment status for tax, GOV.UK