Advice on going from PAYE to self employed as a sole trader.

Glass_Half_Empty??

I work as a HGV driver and been told today that on my current contract I wont be getting any more work from the client I usually work for in 8 weeks as they will have to pay me the same as the permanent staff(I am an agency driver). So I have to update my contract if I want to keep going in there to work, now the advice I was given from the agency was "going as a sole trader is a good way to go". I have no real info on this and it seems very confusing after a long day at work so hoping someone can give me advice/a guide on what I need to do. The agency will pay me £1 an hour more for being S/E and then pay me full amount of wages and then I need to pay my own tax and NI so I gather I may need an accountant to give me some advice. Any specific type of accountant?
Cant think of anything else to ask but all advice greatly appreciated thanks.

Hammyman

Ex-lorry driver here. Its a rip off agencies do. For that £1/hr you lose all rights as an employee. Worse still is that £1/hr extra doesn't even cover your holiday pay you'll lose. They do get to save about £1/hr employers NI and not have to bother with employment law. Being self employed you will have a nightmare trying to get credit and you will be disqualified from any payment protection plans you have such as on loans and mortgages as they only cover employed people. Also what they are wanting to do is actually illegal as you don't meet the criteria for self employed. A company can't just decide you are, HMRC do.

However the agency have made a massive mistake if they've given you an 8 week deadline. The 12 weeks required at an employer to get the same rights for the new laws comes into force in 4 weeks time if you've been there every week since the beginning of October. So in 8 weeks time they're too late and there is nothing they can do - they would have had to meet the same pay as the permanent staff for 5 weeks....

Glass_Half_Empty??

Well they reckon its DHL who are going to refuse letting us in as they dont want to pay us the same. So if I want to keep working there then I have to go self employed so they can word my contract different etc. I only want the work till June and dont want any credit for the foreseeable. And I cant afford to be out of work either, just want advice on how to get registered and anything I should know/do so I can get on with it. All agencies are a big con, I hate them with a passion they're scum. But for now it will do me to keep me going till I can say goodbye to the industry.

scheming_gypsy

if you're only looking at going self employed till June, just by pass being self employed and get an umbrella company. They deal with all the tax side of it.


You say it's a big con and you hate agencies but it's the agency who's helping you keep working. Plus without them you wouldn't have the job anyway.

Glass_Half_Empty??

Why should I give them £10 a week when I can do it myself or have an accountant do it cheaper? I only plan to do it until June yes with this agency maybe I will use others at the same time as being S/E. Agencies are scum, they keep me going in work when it suits them and you dont rock the boat and do all the unsociable shifts offered that no one else wants and the moment you say no the !!!!!!!s stop your work. Never worked for a decent one yet.

scheming_gypsy

but the agencies don't decide your hours, the client says they want you to do x,y and z. If you don't do it the client tells the agency not to send you again


Like i said, umbrella company is an alternative IF you're only being self employed till June, which would save the hassle of starting a company, getting an accountant, doing your own returns etc and then dissolving the company. But if it's not just till June then you don't need an alternative short term suggestion.

Hammyman

Glass_Half_Empty?? wrote: »

Well they reckon its DHL who are going to refuse letting us in as they dont want to pay us the same.

What a crock of rubbish. It isn't DHL at all, its the agency. The agency will already be charging DHL more than DHL pay their own employees. The last time I saw definite agency figures for a place I was with, I was getting paid £7/hr basic and they were charging me out at £12+VAT. Their own drivers were on the same money as I was.

As a parting gift in June, report the agency to HMRC. That'll land them with a nice big bill for employers NI....

Hammyman

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

but the agencies don't decide your hours, the client says they want you to do x,y and z. If you don't do it the client tells the agency not to send you again


Like i said, umbrella company is an alternative IF you're only being self employed till June, which would save the hassle of starting a company, getting an accountant, doing your own returns etc and then dissolving the company. But if it's not just till June then you don't need an alternative short term suggestion.

They've said they will accept him being a sole trader. He doesn't need to do any of that. He merely needs to register as self employed and keep a basic set of books and fill in a self assessment.

Russe11

£1 more a hour!, i'd go back to them and ask them what the f**k planet do they think they are on.

If you have no liability and they dictate your hours then its not really selfemployed is it. If you was happy with this arrangement then you should be going for at least 40% more than paye.

The whole construction industy started this joke of self employment that is not really self employed and its spread into every industry you can name.

scheming_gypsy

Hammyman wrote: »

They've said they will accept him being a sole trader. He doesn't need to do any of that. He merely needs to register as self employed and keep a basic set of books and fill in a self assessment.

good point well presented, i'm so used to people asking about self employed I went into auto pilot.

Hammyman

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

good point well presented, i'm so used to people asking about self employed I went into auto pilot.

I must admit I was a bit gobsmacked that the agency would accept sole trader. Usually they want you to use an umbrella company or set up as Ltd to cover their backsides because they know what they're doing is a very grey area.