Employee and Self-Employed - redundancy enitlement + benefits ?

wyvern

I am currently an employee (PAYE). I am considering setting up as self-employed in addition to remaining as PAYE employee.

Am I legally obliged to inform my employer if I also set myself up as self-employed if my activities are unrelated to work ?

I have read up on how to deal with self-assessment / NI contributions with HMRC, but I am concerned on how it may impact on any future redundancy from my employer as the business is struggling.

I have worked for him for 12+ years, so a redundancy settlement would be a significant amount (at least for me).

If I am also Self-Employed am I entitled to a statutory redundancy payment from my employer in the event that he makes me redundant ?

If he is insolvent - can I still claim the statutory redundancy amount via the NI fund ?

Will I be eligible for Job Seekers ? (I suspect not).

Many thanks.

LittleVoice

wyvern wrote: »

I am currently an employee (PAYE). I am considering setting up as self-employed in addition to remaining as PAYE employee.

Am I legally obliged to inform my employer if I also set myself up as self-employed if my activities are unrelated to work ? Your contract of employment may require that you do - that you seek agreement to taking on outside work, whether self-employed or with another employer.

I have read up on how to deal with self-assessment / NI contributions with HMRC, but I am concerned on how it may impact on any future redundancy from my employer as the business is struggling.

I have worked for him for 12+ years, so a redundancy settlement would be a significant amount (at least for me). Is there an enhanced scheme which your employer offers? If not, you would be entitled to statutory redundancy pay only which is capped at £430/week's pay due.

If I am also Self-Employed am I entitled to a statutory redundancy payment from my employer in the event that he makes me redundant ? You would be entitled: the payment is about your losing that work not your overall situation.

If he is insolvent - can I still claim the statutory redundancy amount via the NI fund ? Yes.

Will I be eligible for Job Seekers ? Yes (contribution based), assuming your have been paying NI contributions in your employment and you are not working more than 16 hours a week on your self-employment if you need to claim. Your JSA would also be reduced by your self-employed earnings. (I suspect not).

Many thanks.

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wyvern

Thanks for the reply.

I have no formalised written terms and conditions of employment - only a letter of appointment that confirms working hours and starting salary.

There is no enhanced redundancy package - only statutory.

Thank you for the info on jobseekers. From what you've said (and a bit of research following on from that), it seems then that so long as I have been paying class 1 NI (via PAYE) for a minimum of the previous 2 years leading up to redundancy (which I would have), then I should be able to claim Job Seekers Allowance (contribution based) for 182 days.

If my self-employed activities are ad-hoc - ie. a few hours / days here and there - and do not exceed 16 hours a week for any period during which I'm claiming JSA - then I should be OK ?

Many thanks for your help, I really don't want to jeopardise and prospect of qualifying for JSA as I think our income protection is also dependent upon that.

LittleVoice

wyvern wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

I have no formalised written terms and conditions of employment - only a letter of appointment that confirms working hours and starting salary. Sometimes there are staff handbooks which contain contractual terms. If that doesn't apply and your business is not in competition with your employer (which could be a breach of trust), you don't need to mention your other work.

There is no enhanced redundancy package - only statutory.

Thank you for the info on jobseekers. From what you've said (and a bit of research following on from that), it seems then that so long as I have been paying class 1 NI (via PAYE) for a minimum of the previous 2 years leading up to redundancy (which I would have), then I should be able to claim Job Seekers Allowance (contribution based) for 182 days.

If my self-employed activities are ad-hoc - ie. a few hours / days here and there - and do not exceed 16 hours a week for any period during which I'm claiming JSA - then I should be OK ? That would be my understanding too.

Many thanks for your help, I really don't want to jeopardise and prospect of qualifying for JSA as I think our income protection is also dependent upon that.

..................

wyvern

Thanks again.