I know theres a lot of us that work for umbrella companies or self employed. Im personally sick of companies taking the mick! Do you realise that not only are you paying your own NI and Income tax but also your employers aswell?? Your also relinquishing almost all of your employment rights… Even if you have a contract with the company that states your self employed you may not technically be. Ive started a petition to the government and id love to get more people on board if possible.
My petition:
Stop companys forcing people to use Umbrella companies and paying Employers NI
Companies mainly in the gig economy and forcing drivers to use umbrella companies who are turn then encouraging drivers to start LTD companies. This is forcing people to not only relenquish all employment rights but is also forcing them to not only pay there NI and Income tax but also employers NI
You do not have to work for anyone it is your own choice, if you do not want to work Ltd or under an umbrella scheme then simply don’t do it. You are not self employed on that basis other than for the reasons you have stated. A petition will get you nowhere, have you expressed your concerns to whoever you are working for, which I assume is an agency? If you want to work PAYE then get a PAYE job or switch your agency.
Pretty much that ^^^^^. Recently in the news here in Lincolnshire a family of Irish travellers were prosecuted and jailed for slavery. We don’t often hear of that tbh, pretty much everyone else has free will. Don’t like it? Don’t work there then.
Being self employed isnt all doom and gloom as some make out. Yes, you do pay your own Ni and income tax and no, you dont have employment rights but the upside is you dont have anyone to answer to and you can work the hours you please when you please. Ive been an O/D for many years and would never go back to working for someone else as the way i see it is all youre doing is lining someone elses pockets when you could be filling your own. I realise that being an O/D is a little different to working for an agency as self employed but…if you dont like the place its very easy to just move on somewhere else and if you want/need a holiday you just take it, theres no one to tell you otherwise.
Re paying the agencys ni and tax, how does that work? If youre self employed you just pay your own. Maybe im out of touch with how HMRC work now
I think the Gig economy and all the other schemes, are pretty high on the political agenda at the moment, it will go one of 2 ways, there will either be reports commissioned to knock it into the long grass or if HMRC feel they are losing to much money, there will be a massive crack down, this will mostly target the workers and not those employers who prefer not to offer proper PAYE employment.
In your petition you use the word ‘‘forcing’’.
I don’t know much about this stuff with agencies as I never use them, but ‘‘forcing’’ ?.. Really?
Has free will and choice gone down the khazi nowadays or what?
I don’t know about you mate but unless somebody bigger than me has my arm bent up my back or something, I won’t be ‘‘forced’’ to do any godamn thing.
I know agencies are scum, can’t be trusted, take the ■■■■ and treat their workers with contempt, but is that how bad it has got now?
Word it better and I will sign.maybe put employment agencies should only be able to set up if they have a payroll department and not use an outside umbrella scam /Scheme.
Don’t know why everyone gets their knickers in the twist about agencies Ltd companies etc,
Its the drivers choice, if you don’t like it get a different job, theirs plenty of them.
By the way I’m in a bad mood listening to the ■■■■■■■■ at Tesco reading driver room
AndrewG:
Being self employed isnt all doom and gloom as some make out. Yes, you do pay your own Ni and income tax and no, you dont have employment rights but the upside is you dont have anyone to answer to and you can work the hours you please when you please. Ive been an O/D for many years and would never go back to working for someone else as the way i see it is all youre doing is lining someone elses pockets when you could be filling your own. I realise that being an O/D is a little different to working for an agency as self employed but…if you dont like the place its very easy to just move on somewhere else and if you want/need a holiday you just take it, theres no one to tell you otherwise.
Re paying the agencys ni and tax, how does that work? If youre self employed you just pay your own. Maybe im out of touch with how HMRC work now
But how free to pick and choose are you rally Andrew? You need to pay the bills, and wether you like it or not, in one way you’re just as buggered as us, to accept a companies rate for a job, as we are to accept a wage, because can you afford to park up if the rate is not to your liking? And you keep telling us that you are happy to do 3000 +miles a week, to earn a living, well, I do a lot less, and make a living, but crucially, if work gets quiet next week, my boss worries. If my truck breaks down, my boss worries. If I have a flat tire, my boss pays for a man to come and fix it. And if I’m not happy were I work, I can leave at start somewhere else tomorrow. …
AndrewG:
Being self employed isnt all doom and gloom as some make out. Yes, you do pay your own Ni and income tax and no, you dont have employment rights but the upside is you dont have anyone to answer to and you can work the hours you please when you please. Ive been an O/D for many years and would never go back to working for someone else as the way i see it is all youre doing is lining someone elses pockets when you could be filling your own. I realise that being an O/D is a little different to working for an agency as self employed but…if you dont like the place its very easy to just move on somewhere else and if you want/need a holiday you just take it, theres no one to tell you otherwise.
Re paying the agencys ni and tax, how does that work? If youre self employed you just pay your own. Maybe im out of touch with how HMRC work now
But how free to pick and choose are you rally Andrew? You need to pay the bills, and wether you like it or not, in one way you’re just as buggered as us, to accept a companies rate for a job, as we are to accept a wage, because can you afford to park up if the rate is not to your liking? And you keep telling us that you are happy to do 3000 +miles a week, to earn a living, well, I do a lot less, and make a living, but crucially, if work gets quiet next week, my boss worries. If my truck breaks down, my boss worries. If I have a flat tire, my boss pays for a man to come and fix it. And if I’m not happy were I work, I can leave at start somewhere else tomorrow. …
Seems true enough to me.
But as an owner driver you have a neat mental trick if being able to say “if I’m in a mess, it’s my mess”.
If we’ve gotten ourselves into a bad job, don’t we all (those of us over 4yrs old) accept responsibility for our current positions, o/d or employee? But as an o/d don’t you have more levers to pull to affect your situation? Choice of truck, choice of route (time vs cost) maintenance (time and ability vs cost). Plus the final option to sell up and go employed.
Given more choice isn’t there mote scope for more reward?
Or, to phrase it differently, if owner drivers are bashing their heads against a bigger tougher wall than we employees, won’t they feel better on a Saturday evening when we all stop?
AndrewG:
Being self employed isnt all doom and gloom as some make out. Yes, you do pay your own Ni and income tax and no, you dont have employment rights but the upside is you dont have anyone to answer to and you can work the hours you please when you please. Ive been an O/D for many years and would never go back to working for someone else as the way i see it is all youre doing is lining someone elses pockets when you could be filling your own. I realise that being an O/D is a little different to working for an agency as self employed but…if you dont like the place its very easy to just move on somewhere else and if you want/need a holiday you just take it, theres no one to tell you otherwise.
Re paying the agencys ni and tax, how does that work? If youre self employed you just pay your own. Maybe im out of touch with how HMRC work now
But how free to pick and choose are you rally Andrew? You need to pay the bills, and wether you like it or not, in one way you’re just as buggered as us, to accept a companies rate for a job, as we are to accept a wage, because can you afford to park up if the rate is not to your liking? And you keep telling us that you are happy to do 3000 +miles a week, to earn a living, well, I do a lot less, and make a living, but crucially, if work gets quiet next week, my boss worries. If my truck breaks down, my boss worries. If I have a flat tire, my boss pays for a man to come and fix it. And if I’m not happy were I work, I can leave at start somewhere else tomorrow. …
AndrewG:
Being self employed isnt all doom and gloom as some make out. Yes, you do pay your own Ni and income tax and no, you dont have employment rights but the upside is you dont have anyone to answer to and you can work the hours you please when you please. Ive been an O/D for many years and would never go back to working for someone else as the way i see it is all youre doing is lining someone elses pockets when you could be filling your own. I realise that being an O/D is a little different to working for an agency as self employed but…if you dont like the place its very easy to just move on somewhere else and if you want/need a holiday you just take it, theres no one to tell you otherwise.
Re paying the agencys ni and tax, how does that work? If youre self employed you just pay your own. Maybe im out of touch with how HMRC work now
But how free to pick and choose are you rally Andrew? You need to pay the bills, and wether you like it or not, in one way you’re just as buggered as us, to accept a companies rate for a job, as we are to accept a wage, because can you afford to park up if the rate is not to your liking? And you keep telling us that you are happy to do 3000 +miles a week, to earn a living, well, I do a lot less, and make a living, but crucially, if work gets quiet next week, my boss worries. If my truck breaks down, my boss worries. If I have a flat tire, my boss pays for a man to come and fix it. And if I’m not happy were I work, I can leave at start somewhere else tomorrow. …
I suppose im lucky in the fact the company i sub for dont just take on any work, theyre in a position to pick and choose rates depending. Much of their work is direct for retail customers where they take an active part in packaging/distribution and although i do the distance its the same route week in week out so i always know exactly where i am re time scales knowing ill be home every weekend. Yes, the mileage does take its toll occasionally i will admit but theres always the option for shorter groupage work which ill do to break the monotony of repetitive Malaga/Calais return runs. A little off topic but re breakdowns, if anything my truck is always over serviced, only fit gen parts and premium uncut tyres. I look after it like a baby to try to avoid downtime and the headache it can cause. Ill freely admit we do get looked after here and hoping the work continues as i love it but if it does one day go ■■■■ up ill do exactly what an employee in the same position would do…just move on…
