ESM1035 - Detailed guide to determining status: opportunity to profit from sound management

The Courts have concluded that a self-employed person often has an opportunity to profit from the sound management of the task. Of course an employee's income may also be related to his or her efforts or to other factors and so may not be regular or constant.

An employee's income will depend on performance when paid by the piece. It could also depend on how long he or she works and that, in turn, could depend on outside factors such as the weather.

It follows that the Courts interpret the opportunity to profit from sound management in a rather special way. What they have in mind is the worker who quotes a fixed price for a job and whose profit or loss depends on speed and efficiency and the capacity to reduce overheads and organise work effectively.