Dr. Juliet McMahon:

It relates to the category of worker. It is the definition under the Industrial Relations Act 1990 and Dr. O'Sullivan has articulated that. However, the UK has introduced the intermediate category of worker under its 1996 Act. It has not made life easier in terms of the status of workers or the legislation. In fact, it has complicated it. There is a swathe of cases at present to try and determine where people fit, whether they are independent contractors, workers or employees. One finds in some cases that they are both workers and employees. We must examine the status issue because it is fundamental. As Dr. O'Sullivan said, the issue is who it is going to protect, before one gets to the bands. If we do not examine that intermediate category and the effect it has had in the UK, in particular, given that the UK has a similar common law system to ours and similar interpretations of it, we could be creating a set of negative unintended consequences. We must be careful.