I am looking for advice again, my boss is asking all his drivers to become self employed(ltd companies).
If anyone objects to this he has told us they will be made redundant surely this cannot be legal or ethical any advice would be gratefully recieved.
HMRC would have an opinion on this.
Why whats in it for him,apart from him handing you the worry,inland revwill not wear it …you will have to adhere to the silly WTD ,
Agencies are going this route more and more, the reason is that it saves them paying holiday pay and they also save by not having to pay an employers contribution to the National Insurance, in the case of a transport company it would also mean they could get rid of workers without having to bother about redundancy pay.
First time I’ve heard of a none agency company doing it though, hope it’s not a sign of things to come 
Has the employer offered better money if you go self employed ?
it something ive heard of more than once the big hmrc will not wear it is total rubbish tobe honnest i take it its a small company if so then you could be got rid of
in law you cannot be forced to go self employed in reality it happens more often than you think
just remember you will have to go ltd
Difficult one this.
HMRC wont care as long as someone is paying tax, be it you or your boss.
I have a contract which states we must be self employed. No problem as I have been for the past 10 years in the IT field.
The major downside to this type of contract is quite simple, he will ONLY call you to work when there is work to be done.
Dont expect 5/6 days a week. It aint gonna happen. Expect 3 or 4 weeks without hearing anything from him.
And then there will be the times when there is too much work. Will he force you to run bent?
Probably time to have a good look round for something else if you arent comfortable with the above!
Good luck
Has anyone overlooked the obvious. The boss has probably decided that the drivers must switch.
Call his bluff. Take the redundancy. At least you’ll get some cash out of him, and if there’s nothing available elsewhere on PAYE. Then consider going self employed. Setting yourself up using the monies you got out of him.
There’s nothing stopping you doing work for your ex employer as a Ltd Co. It will rub him up even more if as S/E you registered for VAT. As you’d charge him & you’d gain the extra £’s by reclaiming the Vat back on items you’d bought for your business
If you become a Ltd Co, and you have a serious accident, then the corporate manslaughter charge will stop at you and NOT the owner.
Will he put this in writing if he will getting on headed paper then walk straight in to the tax office after 6
Months
You can stay as sole trader if you have a secondary income stream
My advice would be to get a van and insure it for courier work then all the work you do for him don pay your tax and then do the above
Who pays, it’s not ‘free’ starting a company, is it? 
125 pounds to register at companies house or just infirm hmrc is going sole trader
Country to popular belief you can’t claim vat on most things you buy you won’t make money on it as Ltd better to go for flat rate scheme
Steve you pay to set up the company as you would be starting your own business
alix776:
Steve you pay to set up the company as you would be starting your own business
Yea I know, but why should the OP be out of pocket and have extra hassle?
SWEDISH BLUE:
If you become a Ltd Co, and you have a serious accident, then the corporate manslaughter charge will stop at you and NOT the owner.
Which is why they invented public liability insurance
alix776:
125 pounds to register at companies house
that’s strange… Last time I looked it was around £19.99+VAT to register a Ltd Co title
As for sole trader status, a lot of companies insist you are Ltd co. And won’t deal with anyone who’s a sole trader
peirre:
SWEDISH BLUE:
If you become a Ltd Co, and you have a serious accident, then the corporate manslaughter charge will stop at you and NOT the owner.Which is why they invented public liability insurance
alix776:
125 pounds to register at companies housethat’s strange… Last time I looked it was around £19.99+VAT to register a Ltd Co title
As for sole trader status, a lot of companies insist you are Ltd co. And won’t deal with anyone who’s a sole trader
So for around £25 you can set up your own Ltd Company? I’m sure it cost my Dad (RIP) a great deal more back in the 80’s
Its cheap and easy to set up a ltd company and you will be better off in your pocket .Most accountants will tell you to draw a wage of around £125 And take the rest as a directors dividend wich to a level is un taxed. just save all you recepts throw them at your accountant once a year and for a about 4oo a year he will sort it. you will pay very little corp tax .just make sure your rate rises to make up for holidays ect
chester1:
Its cheap and easy to set up a ltd company and you will be better off in your pocket .Most accountants will tell you to draw a wage of around £125 And take the rest as a directors dividend wich to a level is un taxed. just save all you recepts throw them at your accountant once a year and for a about 4oo a year he will sort it. you will pay very little corp tax .just make sure your rate rises to make up for holidays ect
You can buy limited companies out of exchange and mart, probably the online version too.
No one can make you go self employed, if you want to do it, look into it, but self employed doesn’t necessarily mean ordering a new Bentley straight-away 
dinosteveus1:
So for around £25 you can set up your own Ltd Company?:?
Yeah that’s right …I did it.
Wheelnut is right no one can make you switch from being “employed” to being self employed.
But as previously stated, I suspect the boss of the O/P has already took that decision to reduce his costs/overheads. So the best option the O/P has is to take to redundancy money and get out with something in his pocket & IF he decides to go S/E he’ll have the finical means to fund the start up costs
As I understand it, even if you do go self employed and work for him, he still has to pay you redundancy, as your job as an employed driver is no longer available.
Working as self employed for him is not a continuation of your employed status but is the start of another contract.
Yes while that is true in the real world that doesn’t always happen especially with small companies my guess is that he’ll just be expected to carry on as normal no redundancy or anything just finish employed Friday start se on the Monday it’s that simple