Examiner employment status

JulianneH

Hello, I am an examiner. 95% of the work I do is for UK exam boards. HMRC deduct PAYE tax at source but I have to pay Class 2 and Class 4 NI contributions, I do not pay Class 1 contributions. I fill in a SA tax return every year and have to fill in the Self employment pages to be able to pay the NI I owe. I found a page in the HMRC manual that says that for Social Security purposes, I am self employed. But then I found another page in the manual that says, because the Exam board could not function without people like me, I was to be considered as employed. I do not get a regular income from the work I do, I get paid as I complete pieces of work or marking. The exam boards have not come up with anything yet, beyond 'they are in discussion with the govt' about it. I am very worried, as the income I would have lived off in the second half of this year has now gone and other things are also being pulled. I am hoping to be able to claim the Self employed grant the govt has said they will pay - the 80% of your monthly average over the last 3 years. But I do not know if I will qualify and I am worried sick about it. Does anyone know already??

Jeremy535897

This is a very difficult question. I think the upshot of the relevant regulation (SI 1978/1689) is that you are an employee, but for national insurance purposes only, you may be regarded as self employed if certain conditions are met. This is your reading too. The logical conclusion is that you are an employee, so not entitled to the self employment grant, but should seek furlough from your employers. Unfortunately this is voluntary for them, and they don't have to do it, but it looks like they are considering it, hence their statement that they are "in discussion". I am sorry not to be more helpful, but I think you must plan for the worst while hoping for the best, and see if you are entitled to claim universal credit in the meantime.

JulianneH

Thanks for your reply. It is so frustrating because the exam boards only pay me for the work I do and I get no holiday pay or sick pay. My contracts are for pieces of work and marking sessions and then they expire

Stuck between a rock and a hard place and not of my choosing

Jeremy535897

I confess I do not understand the logic of the law. Usually people want to claim they are self employed to avoid NIC (and it suits employers too). Apart from some more generous treatment of expenses, particularly to do with motor expenses and capital allowances, there is not that big a difference between paying tax under PAYE and paying income tax under self assessment.

JulianneH

If the Self Employed Income Support Scheme is considered to be a Social Security thing then I might be ok. But, as you say, I doubt it. With the employed scheme, it does not work for me as I am not paid every month. Sometimes I earn nothing. Sometimes I earn 3 or 4 months' income in one go. Life is stressful.

Jeremy535897

You don't have to be paid every month. You have to be on their payrolls at 28 February 2020, they have to furlough you, and then they work out what to pay you. For workers on variable pay:

Employees whose pay varies

If the employee has been employed for 12 months or more, you can claim the highest of either the:

• same month’s earning from the previous year
• average monthly earnings for the 2019-2020 tax year

If the employee has been employed for less than 12 months, claim for 80% of their average monthly earnings since they started work.

If the employee only started in February 2020, work out a pro-rata for their earnings so far, and claim for 80%.

JulianneH

OK thanks - that might be it then. I will email them tomorrow and ask about it. Thanks again, it is definitely worth trying.

samcornfield

JulianneH said:

OK thanks - that might be it then. I will email them tomorrow and ask about it. Thanks again, it is definitely worth trying.

Did you get a response from the exam board or anyone else about support for examiners?  Myself and my husband are examiners and have multiple contracts for the June series which would have made up a significant part of our annual income.  I have heard nothing from them and have tried searching online for an answer to whether we are employed or self-employed or if we will get any support but cannot find anything.  This is a very worrying situation and because there is so much else going on and there are only relatively small numbers of people that will be affected by this no one seems interested in helping.

Jeremy535897

Could you possibly be limb (b) workers? Guidance on them says:

"If you’re a Limb (b) Worker

Where Limb (b) Workers are paid through PAYE, they can be furloughed and receive support through this scheme.

Those who pay tax on their trading profits through Income Tax Self-Assessment, may instead be eligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), announced by the Chancellor on 26 March 2020.

More information about the SEISS, including the eligibility criteria and how to claim, is available here."

See https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/images/infographics/rsa-gig-economy-chart.pdf

stratocaster1991

I’ve just had a generic email from OCR and CIE saying that I’ll either be furloughed or receive an ex gratia payment and will find out next week in a letter. From the wording, I suspect that in my role as assistant examiner I’ll be getting an ex gratia payment (as my payment is contingent on the number of scripts that I mark) and furloughing will be for other roles such as principal examiner, who have a fixed contract.

Presumably AQA will be sending similar advice soon.

EnglishTeacher1

I had the same email yesterday regarding the eligibility for furlough or offer of ex gratia payment from OCR. Does this mean that Assistant Examiners will get one or the other? And how are ex gratia payments worked out? It's all very confusing. I had several marking contracts for this summer between OCR and AQA and the uncertainty is worrying.