Newly Self-employed? Thinking of going it alone?
Self-employment suits many people, their families and style of work. The longer they do it, the better it gets.
But starting up isn’t always easy. There are new problems to face without help from someone in charge.
Our stories are based on true experiences. We use and refer to official information sources.
Taylor Review: ideas to improve work and social justice. The government-commissioned independent review* of modern working practices has quickly provoked a lot of negative stuff from interest groups. It was a ‘missed opportunity’. It let down workers it sought to protect. It said nothing about enforcement. Those willing to take a wider view however should agree […]
Minimum wages and the self-employed. A new paper on improving self-employment with comment from Lord Adair Turner* created a lot of interest in this week’s Resolution Foundation event. Resolution’s thorough study proposes new government policies to make self-employment more secure, to tackle the abuses of ‘bogus’ self-employment, but also to protect the tax base as employment practice changes: Extending Statutory Maternity Pay Extending contributory Jobseekers’ Allowance to […]
Our profiles* of local traders reveal the most common rewards and worries of going self-employed. 2 Roger – Gas Engineer Roger was originally an apprentice with British Gas but eventually decided to go self-employed. Like most of his colleagues, he felt the company wasn’t paying well at the time. He now enjoys feeling his time is […]
Our profiles* of local traders reveal the most common rewards and worries of going self-employed. 1 Brian – Gardener Brian learned his business working for a gardening company. He went on his own because he wanted more freedom – to choose when he worked and who he worked for. He values more than anything not being […]
HMRC employment check. HMRC has published an online self-assessment tool (questionnaire) that allows anyone to check their employment status for tax purposes. It coincides with an important change in the rules affecting self-employed people who work in public sector organisations using a personal service contract. From this month the organisation, not as previously the worker, will decide the worker’s status – […]
In the Budget Chancellor Hammond announced increases to national insurance contributions for self-employed people. Within a few days the plan had been withdrawn. The episode led to hundreds of comments in mainstream news and a storm on social media. Much of this was hot air and disappeared overnight. In a few cases something worth noting was said. We picked out an item* in The Times. Janice Turner questioned the […]
Self-employed? Or status doubtful? Someone we heard from works for a school transport provider contracted to a local authority. During term time she puts in 20 hours a week as a school escort. Her role is to collect children with special needs from home and take responsibility for their safe journey to school or children’s centre […]
Pimlico Plumber shows why change is needed. The recently reported Pimlico Plumber’s case highlighted a form of exploitation that has become common in the catering and service sector, construction and many other areas using relatively low paid staff in a competitive economy. It’s been called Bogus-Self Employment. The Job Offer There is a job advertised. […]
Yes, in the round. Changes to self-employed NICs were always going to be controversial. As the dust settles ministers may be seen aiming in the right direction. That’s the view of the Citizens Advice advocacy and campaigns team. They’re pointing to policy work on parental leave, pensions, bogus self-employment and a review of modern employment practices (including a better definition of self-employment). Helping self-employed families: What […]
Is self-employment really for you? Jack was a plumber with a big UK energy company for 25 years. He left the company following an accident and has been out of work and living on savings for 6 months. He’s now thinking about setting up his own plumbing business. In addition to his trade he has […]