-
Living and working away from home as a contractor in further education
In recent years IR35 tax changes means that you can no longer work in further education as a contract / temporary Tutor as a self employed person. My understanding of this in practice this means that we are unable to claim living and travel expenses. Is this correct? It seems unfair as it seems that employees can claim…
-
Working away from home and snoring
Hi, I work as an electronics contract engineer. As such i need to stay in B&B's and Travelodge's etc in the week. Unfortunately i not only snore extremely loudly, but i also sometimes make a loud droning noise when asleep. This wakes people up in the adjacent Hotel rooms and sometimes they then "get their revenge" by…
-
Holiday declined
Hello I booked a holiday for the end of 2026, I put my request in last year and it’s been sat in pending for months, our contract states that holidays should be approved/declined no later than 2 weeks after the request was made. When it was declined no reason or anything was given. The holiday has now been paid for and the…
-
Tax return deadline
Hi, Having worked as a sole trader in November 2025 and December 2025 and earned £7000 please may i confirm that i dont have to do the tax return till January 2027? Sorry to ask, it just seems such a long time "after the event".
-
MTD
Hi, I do my self employed husband's accounts including VAT and self assessment and have been using MTD for a year or so. DO I need to set up an Agent's Account or is that only for tax/accounting professionals? Apologies if that is a stupid question! I just want to be sure. (No appropriate category)
-
late salary payments what would you do?
i have been working in a senior management role for a company for 7 months. every month salaries have been paid late. always a similar excuse that there accounts suffered a cyber attack and that access has been limited etc. this time it’s been the worse. nobody has been paid their december salary which was due on the 31st…
-
I feel that a member of my team is about to be poached by my own team
For context I work for a local authority in England. I work within a team and my role is very specific, and I have two assistant members of staff to help with my growing workload. It started out as one and then, as the team grew, it was expanded to two. I had a permanent member of staff who went on a new role on a…
-
National Insurance contribution - employee contribution
My new employer has not paid 20 months National insurance employee contributions from 2023 to 2025. I have 39 full years contribution showing on my GOV UK account, not sure if I need to pay the back dated payments. Any advice would be grateful, thank you.
-
Employer refusing to pay mileage
I work for a charity in England, and have done so for 4 years. It is in a rural area and all of us workers, (20 or so) have to start work at one location and then once or twice a week work from a different location for half a day and return. We do about 400 miles a year on these short journies. We get no mileage allowance…
-
Managed Vetting for police while on a DMP
I’ve been through an interview process and been offered a job pending background checks with a police service in England. When filling in financial I’ve declared all outstanding debts, totalling approximately £23K which I arranged a debt management plan to sort out. I was always able to manage the payments and never missed…
-
MSE News: Young part-time worker reclaims £240 holiday pay – how to check if you're owed too
A 17-year-old MoneySaver has reclaimed £240 after realising she hadn't got the holiday pay she was due from two former employers. If you're an employee or worker, you're legally entitled to a certain amount of paid time off – even if your job is part-time, temporary or seasonal. Below we explain how to check if you might…
-
Self employed engineer, can I employ my wife?
Hi, I am a self employed heating engineer. My wife is currently looking for work after a long term illness. Ad hoc hours would suit her as she’s still in recovery but all of the part time jobs she’s looked at are not suitable for her as it stands. My hours are long, mentally and physically tiring. Could I employ my wife to…
-
About to start a new job a week on Monday but.......
So I am 90% the way thru my 3 months notice period - about to start a new job a week on Monday....however what are peoples opinions on this.... I was offered a job three months ago and accepted and all seemed ok. Then about a month and a half ago I heard a new CFO had been appointed in my new company. Ok slightly…
-
Skills for life
I have seen this gov advert on bus stops. Had a look and doesn't look all that great. I am looking for a course in software or cyber security. As an adult 40s age group. Currently in a full time job earning about 27k. Should I investigate this or do a paid for course such as pitman training?
-
Closure of limited company with cash assets
Hi, with wider use of IR35 I no longer have use for my limited (personal services) company. It has about £5,000 in the bank and there are two shareholders, myself and my partner. Can I simply divide the remaining cash according to shares and declare that income on my personal tax return as capital gains? How do I reflect…
-
Adult part time training
Hi I am looking to do an IT course in either cybersecurity or software. A friend recommend a company called pitman who is apparently well respected for qualifications. However I just wanted to check with you all here if you have heard of them and if there are any other options such as free courses I could do first to keep…
-
A potential employer advertised roles as Real Living Wage accredited organisation, diferent terms in
If an organization has been accredited Living Wage Employer, do they have to pay the real Living Wage. Which is what value per hour from March 2026? I do not want to start with a comment on this after a successful job interview. However when they sent the documents today, for me to understand the role minutiae - they sent…
-
New SSP rules
Ref New SSP rules from April Are there legal requirements for employees to have to get a sick note if they are off for a couple of days? Can an employee just ring up on a Monday, after heavy weekend, and say they are not feeling well. Are they entitled to sick pay?
-
Get 16 consecutive days off in 2026 using just 8 days of annual leave – official MSE blog discussion
Afternoon, I've written a blog about how UK workers can boost their leave in 2026 by booking it at the right time – though whether you can do it will depend on what you do, what hours you work and who you work for. The festive season is but a bittersweet memory, and all that lays before you is the grindstone, the grim…
-
Free Courses for Jobs
I’m currently unemployed and have been claiming NSJSA for the past 6 months. This recently came to an end and I was given form JSANC1 by the job centre and I am now in the process of being transferred onto a claim for just NI Credits (form was submitted a few days ago so I’m still waiting to hear back). I was online…
