Casual Contracts: Rights and Responsibilities

A casual worker is someone who is not part of the permanent workforce but who supply their labour or services on an irregular or on-demand basis to meet an organisation’s fluctuating work needs. But what about casual workers’ rights and responsibilities?

What is a Casual Work?

In the UK, the term ‘casual worker’ is one that is very difficult to define as it is not recognised as being an official term for a type of worker.

However, the term is very common in the UK and there are a large number of people who would be classified as casual workers. To understand what their rights and responsibilities are, it’s crucial to understand what their employment status is under UK law.

Casual Workers Rights

According to the UK employment law, a casual worker or member of staff is almost certainly classed as a ‘worker’ in UK law if they:

• Do occasional work for a particular business
• The business in question is not required to offer them work and they are not required to accept work when offered. They only work when they want to.
• The contract with the particular business uses terms such as ‘freelance’, ‘casual’, ‘zero hours’ or similar descriptions.
• To get work, they had to agree with the business’s terms and conditions.
• They are under the control or supervision of a manager or a director
• They are not allowed to send someone else to do their work
• The business supplies them with the tools and equipment needed to do their job
• The business deducts tax and National Insurance contributions from their wages

That means, being classed under UK law as a ‘worker’ a casual worker is entitled to:

• The National Living Wage
• Protection against deductions from wages that are unlawful
• Statutory rest breaks and holidays
• Not to have to work more than 48 hours or to opt out of this right if they choose
• Protection from being discriminated against unlawfully

Depending upon the exact terms of their casual employment, they may or may not be entitled to:

• Statutory Sick Pay
• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Statutory Paternity Pay
• Statutory Adoption Pay
• Shared Parental Pay

Casual Workers Responsibilities

A casual workers responsibilities are essentially the same as any other worker in the UK. This means that they have a number of fundamental responsibilities to their employer (their particular contract may list more):

1. To do what a reasonable employee would do in any situation
2. To be honest during the course of their work.
3. Do not disrupt the business (includes industrial action)
4. To comply with the employer’s instructions (as long as they are legal)
5. To disclose any convictions or spent convictions as required by UK law
6. To report wrongdoing by other employees of the business
7. Respect and not disclose the business’s confidential information
8. To respect and to look after the employer’s property
9. Not to commit fraud or take bribes
10. To accept and be prepared to change when the job changes as required
11. To work with reasonable care and skill
12. To give up the rights to any inventions to the employer if these are developed by the them during the course of their employment.