From 6 April 2021, all medium to large private sector companies with a UK connection will assume PAYE liability for payments they make for contractor services provided through an intermediary if it takes the view that the contractor is not a genuine independent contractor but rather a “disguised employee”.
From 6 April 2021, all medium to large private sector companies with a UK connection will assume PAYE liability for payments they make for contractor services provided through an intermediary (such as the contractor’s own personal services company (PSC)) if it takes the view that the contractor is not a genuine independent contractor but rather a “disguised employee”. These Off-Payroll Working Rules will apply to service that have been supplied personally on or after 6 April 2021 and will not affect circumstances where all the work is carried out pre 6 April 2021 (although payment is made after).
HMRC is trying to reduce tax avoidance and currently estimates around 80% non-compliance with the IR35 rules in the private sector. The government wants to ensure that individuals working as employees through their PSC broadly pay the same tax as employees who are directly employed by companies. Currently the contractor is responsible for deciding the deemed employment status of the contractor it hires out to its business clients. From 6 April 2021, HMRC is now shifting responsibility for determining deemed employment status to the end user.
HMRC has on their website an online check employment status for tax (CEST) tool to help determine how work being done should be categorised for tax purposes.
HMRC emphasises that individuals must take care when inputting data and ensure such data is an accurate reflection of the working relationship between the parties. Deliberate non-compliance could result in fines imposed by the Revenue. Care should therefore be taken when determining status and legal advice sought where necessary.
Medium and large companies who engage contractors through intermediaries will need to ensure that they have steps in place to assess deemed status prior to April, and that the contractual documentation in place accurately reflects the relationship. They will also need to include a dispute resolution procedure where the contractor disagrees with the deemed status assessment.
In this session, we examined the legal framework around grant funded collaborations and discussed the key risks to be aware of, including IP ownership and compliance with grant terms.
Official statistics show that 15,336 claims which included a complaint of age discrimination were received at the Employment Tribunals between March 2020 and March 2021.
The outcome of the Employment Tribunal claim brought by Gulnaz Raja against Starling Bank Limited (1) (Starling), and Matthew Newman (2) was reported last month.
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The World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday 20 November 2022, with the final taking place on Sunday 18 December 2022. Undoubtedly, this is a huge sporting event, and many employees will be keen to show their support for their favourite teams. However, due to the time difference, start times for the matches are between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. UK time, which could have an impact on employers if employees who wish to watch the matches are scheduled to work.
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National law firm Browne Jacobson has advised long standing retail client, Wilko on the sale and leaseback of its Nottinghamshire distribution centre in Worksop to logistics specialist DHL for £48m.
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Where an employee appeals against their dismissal under a contractual appeal procedure and their appeal is successful, reinstatement to their previous role is automatic and does not require approval or agreement from the employee.
Settlement agreements in an employment context are ordinarily used to provide both parties with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship – but what happens when there is alleged discrimination after entering into a settlement agreement?
Browne Jacobson’s education team has again been confirmed as a national powerhouse after securing five Tier 1 rankings relating to Education in the latest edition of Legal 500 and maintaining a Band 1 UK-wide ranking for Education in Chambers & Partners UK 2023.
In a judgment handed down yesterday the Supreme Court has affirmed that a so called “creditor duty” exists for directors such that in some circumstances company directors are required to act in accordance with, or to consider the interests of creditors. Those circumstances potentially arise when a company is insolvent or where there is a “probability” of an insolvency. We explore below the “trigger” for such a test to apply and its implications.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
A few weeks ago we brought you news that following the Government’s mini-budget it was confirmed that the off-payroll working rules (known as “IR35”) put in place for public and private sector businesses from 2017 and 2021 would be scrapped from April 2023.
In Mogane v Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered whether it was fair to dismiss a nurse as redundant on the basis that that her fixed-term contract was due to expire before that of her colleague.
The majority of people do not feel the need to embellish their CV to get that coveted position and move on up the career ladder. Their worthiness and benefit to the hiring organisation are easily demonstrated through the recruitment process – application, psychometric testing, selection day or interview.
Law firm Browne Jacobson and the University of Nottingham are launching a ground-breaking two and a half year Knowledge Transfer Partnership which aims to develop and embed long-lasting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles and learnings into the firm’s practices and processes, amongst its key client-bases and the national legal sector.
