Go Self Employed or leave 6 July at 10:04PM in Employment, Jobseeking & Training 9 replies 291 views

lanerose60

Been a delivery driver full time for 10 years, not missed a day, and out of the blue employers want me to go self employed and start using my own car and not the company van. If i do this i will  lose all work rights, holiday entitlement, pension etc etc. I am massively reluctant to do this as they could just dump me in a months time. What are my rights here?

patman99

I would refuse. Sounds like they are trying to circumvent their responsibilities.

They may even be breaching HMRC rule 32 if they make you work for them as self employed.

Masomnia

lanerose60 said:

Been a delivery driver full time for 10 years, not missed a day, and out of the blue employers want me to go self employed and start using my own car and not the company van. If i do this i will  lose all work rights, holiday entitlement, pension etc etc. I am massively reluctant to do this as they could just dump me in a months time. What are my rights here?

Essentially yes you would lose your employment rights. They're effectively seeking to dismiss you. So I would say you're entitled to at least 10 weeks notice pay (unless your contract specifies longer) plus redundancy pay which depends on your age, length of service, and salary. If that's the route they go down.

lanerose60

Thanks guys you have echoed my thoughts. I am going to refuse and leave the ball in their court

MinuteNoodles

lanerose60 said:

Been a delivery driver full time for 10 years, not missed a day, and out of the blue employers want me to go self employed and start using my own car and not the company van. If i do this i will  lose all work rights, holiday entitlement, pension etc etc. I am massively reluctant to do this as they could just dump me in a months time. What are my rights here?

It would be viewed as disguised employment.

Refuse to leave. They can't sack you without going reason so will have to make you redundant and you'll be entitled to 10 years redundancy pay.

If you do decide to go self employed the hourly rate needs to be at least 140% of what your PAYE was plus an amount to cover fuel, maintenance and depreciation - HMRC mileage allowance rates are a good start.

lanerose60

Just an update been doing the self employed for a week and my income has halved already, never mind the "140% of what your PAYE was plus an amount to cover fuel, maintenance and depreciation - HMRC mileage allowance rates are a good start." Is it worth going straight to a solicitor to get some advice?  

nicechap

lanerose60 said:

Been a delivery driver full time for 10 years, not missed a day, and out of the blue employers want me to go self employed and start using my own car and not the company van. If i do this i will  lose all work rights, holiday entitlement, pension etc etc. I am massively reluctant to do this as they could just dump me in a months time. What are my rights here?

lanerose60 said:

Thanks guys you have echoed my thoughts. I am going to refuse and leave the ball in their court

lanerose60 said:

Just an update been doing the self employed for a week and my income has halved already, never mind the "140% of what your PAYE was plus an amount to cover fuel, maintenance and depreciation - HMRC mileage allowance rates are a good start." Is it worth going straight to a solicitor to get some advice?  

You may have already shot yourself in the foot. Please fill in the gaps between "going to refuse" and "doing self employed for a week" as it sounds like you've agreed to the change and lost your rights, redundancy Etc.  If you're truly self employed can you send someone else to do the deliveries?

Mmills

What did they come back with then if you are already Self Employed?  The timings would suggest that it wasn't done properly.

Masomnia

I'd get on to ACAS re bringing a claim. 

Grumpy_chap

How did you get from this point...

lanerose60 said:

Been a delivery driver full time for 10 years, and out of the blue employers want me to go self employed and start using my own car and not the company van. If i do this i will  lose all work rights, holiday entitlement, pension etc etc. I am massively reluctant to do this as they could just dump me in a months time. What are my rights here?

To this point...

lanerose60 said:

Just an update been doing the self employed for a week and my income has halved already, never mind the "140% of what your PAYE was plus an amount to cover fuel, maintenance and depreciation - HMRC mileage allowance rates are a good start." Is it worth going straight to a solicitor to get some advice?  

In less than a month?

Did they make you redundant and pay you PILON plus redundancy in the mean-time?