Sorry ,I dont have the link & hence the long reply(from comhairle website).
Why is it important to decide if a person is an employee or not?
Asking if someone is an employee may sound like a silly question. Usually it will be very obvious whether or not a person is an employee, however sometimes the answer may be less clear. For example, a business anxious to avoid employment legislation, PAYE and PRSI, may insist that all the people working for the firm are self-employed rather than employees. Deciding whether a person is an employee or not has important implications for the person concerned. Firstly, the majority of the employment protection provided by law only applies to employees. As a result if you are not an employee you will lose out on legal protection covering, for example, annual leave entitlements, unfair dismissal and redundancy. Secondly, your PAYE and PRSI situation will be very different depending on whether you are an employee or not. For example, a self-employed PRSI contributor is not covered for the social welfare Disability Benefit payment if s/he is unable to work due to illness.
Who decides?
Even though a firm may insist that a person is not an employee (or the parties agree that this is the case), that is not the end of the matter. The Revenue Commissioners, or the Department of Social, Community, and Family Affairs or perhaps a court or tribunal will decide the matter by looking at what is the reality of the situation. So it could be that in law you are an employee, even though you have agreed with another person that you will work for them as a self-employed person.
How is the decision made?
Over the years the courts have looked at this question many times, and have said that in making the decision, the following questions need to be asked:
Is the person (the possible employee) under the control of another (the possible employer) who directs how, when and where the work is to be carried out?
Is the person supplied with the materials?
Is the person supplied with the equipment to do the work?
Is the person receiving an agreed weekly or monthly payment?
Is the person paid sick or holiday pay?
Is the payment subject to PAYE and PRSI deductions?
Does the person have to do the work and can it be given to someone else to do it for him/her?
If the answer to some or all of these questions is "yes" then it may be an employee/employer situation. It is only "maybe" because it depends on all the circumstances of each case. Thankfully, as stated at the beginning of this section, in most cases it is clear whether a person is or is not an employee and so the problem does not arise. However if this is a problem for you, then it is best to get more detailed legal advice or guidance from the Revenue Commissioners or the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs.