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Anita works for Belle at her beauty salon. Belle’s staff are not given regular shifts, so Anita is given 72 hours’ notice of when she is required to work. Belle provides all staff with a uniform, bearing the name of the salon.
Which of the following statements describes Anita’s employment status?
A Anita is an independent contractor because she works on an as-and-when-required basis.
B Anita is an independent contractor because she is free to work for other employers when she is not working for Belle.
C Anita is an employee because Belle can call her into work on 72 hours’ notice.
D Anita is an employee because she wears a uniform supplied by Belle.The correct answer is A, and I wonder how does the 72-hour notice requirement and the uniform provided by Belle not create an employer-employee relationship, given that these factors suggest a degree of control and obligation typically associated with employment? Wouldn’t these points more strongly support C?
72 hours notice of when she will be required to turn up for work? Is she OBLIGED to turn up? Or can she say that ‘Sorry, I’m doing something else that day’? Is there any supervision over the quality of her work? Is she controlled by Belle as to the beauty treatment that she provides to the client or is Anita working to the client’s instructions?
Do we have a situation of supervision, direction and control?
This question of employee / independent contractor is determined by the weighing of factors that do indicate employment against factors that suggest independence. And, in my view, the 3 day notice requirement and the provision of a uniform are far outweighed by Anita’s availability to work elsewhere when not required to attend at Belle’s as well as the ability to turn down Belle’s work and, probably, determine which days she wishes to take as holidays.
I think that it’s a tricky question to answer definitively given that there is a strong argument for option B as well as the indicated option A. I would find it difficult to persuade you why option B was incorrect 🙁
OK?
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