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The Employment Status Of An Employee

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During the old days, employment status is rather straightforward. However, as days went by, with the progress of society as well as technology, the nature of employment becomes more complex. Thus the employment status becomes vague, and in the event of employment disputes, the employment status is evaluated by the court of law based on the test of mutuality of obligation. The test of mutuality of obligation used in relation to the establishment of the employment status is closely related to employment rights. Many employment rights are highly dependent on the ability to establish the status of an employee. However there is no useful statutory definition on ‘employee’. The closest definition can be found in the Employment Right Acts 1996 (ERA 1996), section 230(1), but it is in a form of a circular, and thus it is of little help. Therefore, it is left to the courts to define what is an employee. Over the years, a number of tests have been developed to help the courts to make judgement. The employment status test identifies that, the employer has an obligation to provide work for the employee and there must be a reciprocate obligation by the employee. Failing these, a person is unlikely be classed as an employee (Bebbington Palmer). However, the application of these tests is not always easy or straightforward. The historical development on the tests for employee status showed that it had evolved from one of control (Yewens v Noakes) to

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