It is very important for you to know if you are an employee or an independent contractor when it comes to realising your rights or fulfilling your obligations at your workplace.
For example, if you are an independent contractor you may have to arrange your own insurance including workers’ compensation, public liability and professional indemnity insurance. If you are an employee, your employer is responsible for withholding income tax from your salary, whereas as an independent contractor, you are responsible for your own income tax arrangements and you may be required to pay GST. The minimum-wages guarantee and entitlements also do not apply to independent contractors.
There are a number of indicators that can help you to figure out what work arrangements you may have such as the degree of control over how work is performed, the hours of work, the ability to work elsewhere and the financial risk.
Inform yourself with our newly updated factsheet Employee or Independent Contractor-which one are you? available on our Queensland Law Handbook website.
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