How to Review Contractor-Not-Employee Status Boilerplate

October 2026. Ffion runs ops for a 16-person UK brand of stoneware table lamps in Stoke-on-Trent. English law. Courts of England and Wales.

The packet — the papers you will actually perform — is Clause 9, Clause 4, Schedule 2, a holiday form, a workshop policy, and one email.

For example, the finisher is an individual, not a limited company. The day rate is £180. Twelve weeks come to about £10,800. Start is Monday 5 October 2026.

Typical mistake: Clause 9 says not an employee, so the hours are just how a workshop runs. In practice the heading does not decide status.

A line that says the worker brings every tool can be the sham example, not a shield. ESM0512 Example 3: a welder was told the paper guaranteed self-employed status. The engager still supplied the kit.

Partner and agent words are a different page. So is an IR35 test for a company. This finisher is an individual.

Disclaimer: Checkory provides AI support, not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for binding decisions.

How do you read a status label that is not a shield?

Read Clause 9 as evidence of intent, not as a bar on a tribunal or on tax. The heading is one fact. It is not the class.

An employee is an individual under a contract of service, spoken or written. Section 230 does not use the words independent contractor. “Not a worker” is a second label, not the limb (b) definition.

GOV.UK guidance for HR, updated 1 October 2026, says writing self-employed does not decide status. GOV.UK employment status guidance Rights follow reality. Tax is a separate framework. Log both.

In Uber BV v Aslam, 19 February 2021, a term that blocks an employment reading is of no effect. Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 paragraph 85 is colour. It does not void Clause 9.

A term that tries to shut out the Act, or block a tribunal, is void in so far as it does that. Section 203 A settlement agreement is different. Clause 9 is not one. Do not say the section deletes the label.

Autoclenz, Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41, is one sentence: paperwork that did not match the true agreement could be set aside. Do not retell substitution. Pause if Slack cites only the heading.

What to log for tax, benefits, insurance, and tools?

Tick tax, National Insurance, holiday, sick pay, insurance, and tools. Write what is already true beside each promise the file contradicts.

Employment income includes work under a contract of service. ITEPA 2003, section 4 “Solely responsible for income tax” does not switch that off. Do not calculate PAYE. Check the sentence is not the shield.

An employed earner works under a contract of service. A self-employed earner is employed otherwise. SSCBA 1992, section 2 “They will pay their own contributions” does not move them.

The paper refuses pension, holiday pay, and sick pay. In practice a holiday-request form is already in the pack. Write “holiday form: in the pack.”

The paper wants public liability of not less than £1,000,000 in the finisher's name. The workshop policy already lists them. Escalate that row. Don't treat the clause as cover.

The company supplies the kiln, the glaze, and a named laptop. The 1 October 2026 email bars a personal spray gun. Log “own tools: contradicted.”

Which control sentences elsewhere contradict the label?

Open Clause 4 in the same PDF. Four sentences fight the label: set hours, a right to direct manner, method, and order, company kit, and no other customer. Quote them. Do not score IR35.

Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30, is a shift. Slack calls it how a workshop runs. For example, “finish SL-18 in twelve weeks, your hours” is a different sentence.

Direction and control of manner, method, and order is on the page. ESM0512 Example 1: a written right of control can govern even if unused on day one. Kindness does not delete it.

If the written contract is comprehensive and genuine, later practice is not the first stop. ESM0507 The doors are an incomplete contract, a variation, or a sham. Notice the clash now. Do not wait a month.

The company provides the kiln and the laptop. No other customer during the Term. A vendor flag list is a shape check only. Do not copy a prediction of employment. Pause if Clause 4 stays and Clause 9 is called the answer.

Should you review partner and agent words in this pass?

Only if those words are in Clause 9. This hunt does not decide partnership. That hunt does not decide tax. Do both jobs if they share a paragraph. Do not merge them.

Open the no-partnership and no-agency review for bind and hold out. Come back for tax and hours. Typical mistake: the partner line is treated as self-employment. Tick the words, then leave that half.

Don't add a partnership lecture. If the words are missing, write “absent.” Pause if “the disclaimer we always use” is treated as this review.

Is the IR35 test a different review?

Yes. Substitution, mutuality, and a status determination are another paper. This person is not a personal service company. Do not score those tests here.

Use the IR35 substitution, control, and mutuality review when the counterparty is a company. Clause 4 can still contradict the label.

The hidden problem is treating Friday as one question. It is two. Verify the name on the signature block. In practice write “individual: not this IR35 log.”

What should you align before you start Monday?

You need a page you can verify before you sign. The success bar is one sentence that pauses Monday. It names Clause 4, the email, the holiday form, or the policy. Not the heading.

Align only if the shift and the right to direct manner, method, and order leave Clause 4 before Monday. Name who supplies the kiln, the laptop, and the spray gun. Name the live policy. Take the holiday form out. Clause 9 may stay as intent. It is still not the shield.

Walk if the plan is to start because of the heading while Clause 4 reads like a shift. Also walk if status is silent and someone says “they're a contractor.” £10,800 is not safer because the heading is familiar.

You can upload the same file after the log. Flags come back on that file.