Self Employment sinking feeling

[Deleted User]

Hi

Do you have to be verbally told you are self-employed? Wouldn't have been specified in job advert either - I don't know what to make of this on closer inspection from what I deeply believed as a government agency.

"You & xxx acknowledge and agree that this agreement constitutes a contract for services and shall not create an employer/employee relationship".

"You are engaged as a self employed worker, although it is agreed that xxx shall make statutory deductions from your remuneration, in respect of taxes and other duties, payable by you in respect of such".

There is mention of holiday pay? (having to claim it and announcing holiday year) right down to issue of handbook so I thought everything was legit.

Sat through an assessment at a JCP and next day an hour's interview with no mention ever of this self employment for a Council in their building - told a 35 hour week but not given exact times just a start time to turn up first day, nothing really in writing except a registration confirmation email from what I thought was a government agency and these documents attached one of which I thought was a contract of employment and it was only this week gone that some strange things started to happen hence me just doing some pre bedtime reading - while hoping I'm very wrong.

Would my referees have been told I'm self employed? Is the taxes totally different?

Be really grateful on any assistance as I've always been employed or temporary worker.

Crazy_Jamie

Employment status is often a difficult issue. To answer some of your specific questions from the outset, you do not have be told verbally that you are self employed, and I doubt your referees would have been told that the role was a self employed one.

In reality the issue of whether you are an employee, a worker or self employed will come down to a number of factors, including the wording of the contract, the level of control that the company has over you, whether you have to do the work personally, whether the company provides you with tools to do the job or if you provide them yourself, and whether they are obliged to give you work and you are obliged to do it (called 'mutuality of obligation').

However, just because the contract states that you are self employed, that doesn't necessarily mean that you actually are. You will have noticed in the news recently that a number of large companies (most notable Uber) have tried to label those who work for them as 'self employed', and they've actually been held to be workers. So the label that is attributed to you is not necessarily determinative. In this particular situation I note that the contract describes you as self employed, but tax is deducted by the company in the same way that they would for an employee. That is far from determinative on the issue, but it does give a hint that the company may be trying to label you as self employed when in fact you could be a worker or an employee.

It is difficult to be in any way definitive in your case without more detail, though as I say in any event this is a difficult issue at the best of times.

[Deleted User]

Thank you Crazy Jamie - I did find out a few minutes before I started today it was an administrative error or wasn't intended to see it. Well that cured any first day nerves well and truly!

Thanks again.