Employment status: limited liability partnerships

The Supreme Court has held that a former equity partner of a law firm incorporated as a limited liability partnership (LLP) was clearly a worker and therefore eligible to bring a whistleblowing claim against the LLP. As a result of this decision, LLP members will become entitled to a range of other statutory rights which are available to workers, but not the genuinely self-employed. These include the right to paid annual leave, limits on working time and protection from less favourable treatment if they work part-time. This significant judgment extends protection to many thousands of members of firms, often those working in heavily regulated industries such as law, accountancy and financial services.

This checklist explains the significance of the distinction between an employee, a worker and a self-employed contractor.