Self Employed Cleaner

Matesy

Hi i am a self employed cleaner who works for a doctors surgery but got referred to the surgery by a cleaning business who pays me. They pay me a wage and take their cut.   I would love to work for the surgery directly but can’t because of this company  I always have to contact them about my supplies as they never contact me .   I am a bit confused who is my employer Surgery or Cleaning company  .

Ms_Chocaholic

The company that pays you are your employer

MalMonroe

From what you say, it would seem that you are employed by the cleaning business, since they are the ones who pay you. You are not employed by the doctors surgery. The doctors pay the cleaning business and then you eventually receive your cut. It also seems that the cleaning company give you the cleaning supplies when you tell them you need more.

Is that your only job, or do you work for other businesses as a self-employed person?

Are you registered as self-employed with HMRC? Do you send in a tax return every year? 

It's like when I worked for a temping agency as a secretary. Temps can do long or short term jobs but we always had a signed contract/job description. You need a job description or contract to ensure that your duties, hours of work and pay etc are recorded properly and that the arrangement is adhered to by both parties (you and the cleaning business). I didn't count myself as self-employed when I worked as a temp because I was contracted to work for the agency. 

You really should have a proper contract of employment from the cleaning company. You should also be receiving wage slips detailing your pay, any tax you may have to pay, any National Insurance contributions and an annual P60 too. 

If the cleaning business has a contract with the doctors surgery - and they should have - it's going to be very difficult for you to take over that cleaning job without strong opposition from that business. When I worked for the agency, if ever I was offered a permanent position with the employer I'd been sent to, that employer had to pay the agency an 'introduction fee' as well. That's something else to consider.

For further help and advice you can contact Citizens Advice, link here - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

or acas, link here - https://www.acas.org.uk/

Sandtree

If you are self employed then you don’t have an employer but you have a client and an ultimate client. 

You should read your contract, it almost certainly prevents you poaching work from any ultimate client they have placed you with for X months. 

You could certainly look for direct clients rather than via the agency, good reliable cleaners are like hens teeth. Agencies have the benefit of providing substitutes for sickness etc but if the persons reliable then that’s not generally required and you can always find your own sub. 

kimwp

Another question is whether the surgery want to employ you directly. They may prefer to go through the agency, who presumably cover your holiday, sickness etc 

74jax

If you didn't ask the cleaning company for supplies, but were employed by the surgery you would then still need to ask the surgery for the supplies.

If you were self employed, you would then buy the supplies and insurances to store them etc yourself.

Is it just the ordering process you don't like, can it be simplified?