23rd September 2011, 02:15 PM
Jack Wrote:Oo, sorry didn't mean to be misleading. I was talking about construction companies. But good point about the difference between companies and individuals.
But I still disagree with the statement 'A self-employed individual can do whatever they like, by definition, especially they don't really have any real agreement with their employer.'
If the job falls under the CDM regulations they are bound by them. They are also bound by the 'site regulations' as set out by the principal contractor. The site regulations can be anything from safety regulations, hours, to uniforms!'. Also the self-employed individual is bound by whatever contract for service (or is it to service, or is it 'agreement', can't remember) they have signed.
There are companies in other industries who also have 'self-employed staff' who have to follow the dictations of their supervisors. Try asking the digger drivers on a large construction project who they work for and if they are employed or self employed. Its a real eye-opener!
I agree that it's not just in archaeology where the difference between employed and self-employed is presumably quite blurred to the point of being non-existant.
As for the various regulations you mention people being bound by, whether self-employed or no, since these are set out by HSE they are legal requirements. A quote from the HSE wesbite on what happens if you don't follow the CDM regulations: 'serious breaches of health and safety legislation on your construction project could result in construction work having to be stopped by HSE or your local authority and additional work maybe needed to rectify matters. In the most serious circumstances you may be prosecuted.' Other regulations are also likely to be heavily H&S based and while someone who is self-employed could ignore them they would probably be thrown off the site.
The issue certainly isn't restricted to archaeology though, but employers in archaeology are no doubt good at using as yet another way of shafting 'staff' if they choose too.