3rd August 2008, 07:05 AM
tmsarch asks whether a pre-defined job specification further complicates the status of an employed/self-employed archaeologist.
In my view, probably not. There are plenty of examples from other areas of the construction industry where genuinely self-employed persons work to a pre-defined detailed specification and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see why that should be the case.
When I first came across the self-employed question(many years back), a trade union officer who had researched the question, explained it to me as a question of 'master and servant'. Taking everything into account, she said, if you feel at the end of the day like a servant, you are probably 'employed', if you feel that you have a 'master' role, you are more likely self-employed. I know that lots of factors (as David has tried to explain) complicate this, but I still reckon as a rule of thumb that her advice was good.....
I should add of course that there is also a 'human factor' involved here. We have probably all met the lowliest site assistant who has sometime got it into his or her head that they actually 'run' the unit they work for!! For such people defining themself as master or servant would probably be a meaningless exercise.
In my view, probably not. There are plenty of examples from other areas of the construction industry where genuinely self-employed persons work to a pre-defined detailed specification and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see why that should be the case.
When I first came across the self-employed question(many years back), a trade union officer who had researched the question, explained it to me as a question of 'master and servant'. Taking everything into account, she said, if you feel at the end of the day like a servant, you are probably 'employed', if you feel that you have a 'master' role, you are more likely self-employed. I know that lots of factors (as David has tried to explain) complicate this, but I still reckon as a rule of thumb that her advice was good.....
I should add of course that there is also a 'human factor' involved here. We have probably all met the lowliest site assistant who has sometime got it into his or her head that they actually 'run' the unit they work for!! For such people defining themself as master or servant would probably be a meaningless exercise.