This article analyses critically the 2018 Christchurch Employment Relations Authority’s (the Authority) decision in Hamilton-Redmond and Clifford v Casino Bar Limited, which found that two strip dancers were independent contractors as opposed to employees. The article argues that this decision weakens sex workers’ employment rights. It contends, therefore, that the Authority’s decision diverges from the protective aims of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003. In addition, in relation to employment law more broadly, the article argues that the Authority’s decision reinforces the growing vulnerability experienced by workers in precarious employment.