Landowners and Farmers: What are your legal rights with contractors?
Most farmers in Ireland engage contractors on a day to day basis.
Farm and forestry contractors in Ireland employ close to 10,000 people, operating machines on farms.
Farmers engage contractors for seasonal and day to day work on the farm including baling and bale handling; drilling and sowing; fertilizer applications; hedge cutting; slurry and muck spreading; plant and tractor hire.
The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland set out guideline prices for its members as to what are typical charges.
If you are a farmer and you are engaging contractors, it is important to note the distinction between an employee and an independent or self-employed contractor.
Typically an employee is engaged under an employment contract and you as employer would control how and where the work is carried out and the employee would supply labour only and you would pay them a fixed hourly, weekly or monthly wage.
A self-employed or independent contractor would own their own business and have control as to how and when the work is carried out and would typically provide their own materials and machinery for a job.
Distinction Typically if you are engaging a contractor to do work on your farm, they would be classified as an independent contractor unless they have entered into a contract of employment with you and you are paying their wages directly.
It is important to establish this distinction as there are considerably more obligations on you as an employer.
Typically an independent contractor would send you an invoice once the job has concluded and you would be responsible for discharging this.
If there is a dispute in respect of the invoice, arbitration or mediation should be considered and court proceedings may have to be brought for breach of contract.
If you are engaging an independent contractor to carry out works on your lands, it is important that you keep a paper trail and keep records of all correspondence between yourself and the contractor and keep copies of any quotations or invoices that have been sent. If there is a dispute between an employer and an employee, this is normally dealt with by the Workplace Relations Commission.
Health & Safety From a Health & Safety perspective and in respect of any potential liability which you may incur as the landowner or duty of care you would owe to an independent contractor, this would be governed by Occupier’s Liability legislation in Ireland. Under this legislation you would owe a duty of care towards any visitors.
Section 7 of the Occupier’s Liability Act 1995 should be noted in particular.
This states that you as an occupier of the premises shall not be liable for injury or damage caused to an entrant onto your property by reason of a danger existing on the premises due to the negligence of an independent contractor employed by you, if you have taken all reasonable care in the circumstances unless you had or ought to have knowledge of the fact that the work was not properly done by the independent contractor.
This would essentially mean that you would not be potentially liable as occupier or owner of the lands, if a third party such as a visitor, recreational user or trespasser was potentially injured on your lands and this was a result of a negligent act of the independent contractor.
For example, if somebody was injured by a combine harvester which was owned by an independent contractor and it can be established that negligence rests with the independent contractor and that you can show as landowner you took reasonable care, you can potentially avoid liability.
Duties as an employer However, you should be aware of your duties as an employer under the Safety, Health and Welfare Work Act 2005 including preparing appropriate safety statements and risk assessments and it is advisable that you have the appropriate health and safety procedures in place.
If you are engaging contractors, it is important that you are aware of your contractual relationship with them and that they are not classified as employees.
If a dispute arises between yourself and the independent contractor, you should engage a solicitor to advise you in respect of your legal rights.
- Stephen Coppinger is a solicitor practicing in Walsh & Partners, Solicitors, 17, South Mall, Cork.
