I think I could be an employee not a contractor

Sometimes, an employee is misclassified as an independent contractor.

For example, a business may treat a worker as an independent contractor, including by asking them to provide an ABN and submit invoices for their work, even though the agreed working arrangements indicate that the worker is an employee.

Sham contracting happens when an employer misrepresents to a worker that an employment relationship is an independent contracting arrangement when the employer doesn’t reasonably believe this.

Check what you can do if you think you're an employee, not a contractor.

On this page:

How to check if you’re an employee or a contractor

Before you start - information you need

Steps to take

  1. Work out whether you’re an employee or an independent contractor
    • There are a range of factors to consider when working out if someone is an employee or an independent contractor. Visit our Independent contractors page to help you work out the difference between contractors and employees.
    • Working out whether or not someone is an employee or an independent contractor can be a complex legal question. There may be consequences, for example, about how much tax you need to pay or how much super you need to get. In some instances, you may want to get legal advice.
    • If you've been engaged as a contractor but you think your arrangement is an employment relationship and you’re an employee, follow our next steps.
  2. Work out what you are owed
  3. Have a meeting with the business you work for
    • Arrange a time to speak with the business about your concerns.
    • To help you get ready for the discussion, we have online courses to help you prepare for difficult conversations.
    • In the meeting, you can go through our Independent contractors page with the business to discuss why you believe you’re an employee rather than an independent contractor.
    • If you think you’re covered by an award, you should also provide the business with information about the award you are covered by, your classification, and how much you are owed. Check Find my award. You can do the same if the business has an applicable enterprise agreement or another registered agreement in place.
    • The business may wish to seek further advice to help them make the correct decision. You should give them a reasonable amount of time to do that.
    • Make sure you record any outcomes from your discussion.

Best practice tip

Before speaking to the business, you should work out whether you are being underpaid if you are an employee. In some cases, although a person may have been incorrectly classified as a contractor and sham contracting may be occurring, a person may still be getting paid more than they would be entitled to as an employee. In that case, there may be no back pay applicable.

If you need more support

If you still can’t resolve the issue, you can call us for more help.

It can be complicated to work out if you’ve been correctly classified as a contractor or an employee and whether there is sham contracting. You may want to get independent legal advice if you’re having difficulty working out these issues.

Other common workplace problems

Tools and resources

Related information