Professor Michael Doherty:

One of the interesting aspects of the focus on the gig economy and platform work is that these issues which have been around for a long time have recently been subject to considerable attention. What strikes people like me and my colleagues in the United Kingdom who come from the common law tradition where there is a tendency to let the courts decide on these matters is that jurisdictions where the definitions are set down more in law are finding it equally as difficult to address them effectively. I should not be taken as saying there is an easy answer to having a comprehensive statutory definition in law. Perhaps a particular weakness in the Irish code might be inconsistency in approach. We have different definitions of "employee" in different Acts. There is a slightly wider definition in the minimum wage legislation by comparison with that in the unfair dismissals legislation. One of the weaknesses of our code is that we have not consolidated it as we might have done. When we introduced new employment rights, often as a result of EU legislation, they were bolted onto the existing framework. The short answer to the Chairman's question is that I do not believe there is a robust statutory definition of "employee" anywhere that would act as a panacea or silver bullet, but we should certainly pay attention to being consistent in the definitions included in various Acts.