I've been an independent social worker since 2006 undertaking a variety of local authority and private sector contracts. I have been qualified since 2001 and always worked on the front line of child protection which is the hardest for local authorities to fill due to the high stress levels and high a academic demands. To this end local authorities will use contractors on short term assignments to meet demand to complete child protection and care proceedings work. Usually my contracts last up to around six months at at time. On site I have no allocated desk, no free training opportunities and have to pay for anything they might offer, no sick pay, no holiday pay, counselling of planned return to work if off for stress. In other words I am not part and parcel of the organisation and there is no mutuality of obligation whatsoever. I am hired and fired at will and rise and fall on my own ability. Yes I have to use the local authorities computer system due to confidentiality and also have some supervision as is always the case in professional social work. But the control is minimal and they can't move me from job to job. If the contract is extended it is by agreement after an initial set period. I have never been anywhere for years on end and always been treated as separate from the organisation and never been considered an employee. There is also the opportunity to increase my earnings by negotiating some extra work on a fixes price fee. The rest of the work is an hourly rate but mostly all work must be done within the agreed hours or I have to do any extra work regardless and not charge extra.
In my private work it is all single pieces of assessment which have a fixes fee of say £1700 to £2000. Each one takes up to eight weeks to complete and can take up to fifty hours to complete.
I have the intermediary agency who secures my work and then take a percentage themselves. The contract specifics are completed by them.
The hmrc have been hounding me since January with the usual opening letter regarding a compliance check. Since then it's gone through relating to them the reasons why it is considered I fall outside IR 35, through to answering thirty odd questions, to answering three questions from within those thirty, to sending invoices and proof of indemnity and on and on. Now they are contacting the end client to try to arrange a meeting with them. Both of these clients I worked for for less than six months each. They had already asked me to meet them but my accountant said not to do it. I do have insurance against investigation, but it is a very stressful situation. I'm trying to work in a very stressful job environment and the hmrc seem to have no perception of why workers like me are essential to authorities meeting their statutory obligations. Without us filling he demand on short term contracts the system would collapse.
When looking at the business entity tests there is no way I could fulfil every one of them totally, but I still think I am outside IR 35. Supply and demand for highly skilled social workers like myself makes me feel that I should be able to operate as I do outside IR 35.
In my private work it is all single pieces of assessment which have a fixes fee of say £1700 to £2000. Each one takes up to eight weeks to complete and can take up to fifty hours to complete.
I have the intermediary agency who secures my work and then take a percentage themselves. The contract specifics are completed by them.
The hmrc have been hounding me since January with the usual opening letter regarding a compliance check. Since then it's gone through relating to them the reasons why it is considered I fall outside IR 35, through to answering thirty odd questions, to answering three questions from within those thirty, to sending invoices and proof of indemnity and on and on. Now they are contacting the end client to try to arrange a meeting with them. Both of these clients I worked for for less than six months each. They had already asked me to meet them but my accountant said not to do it. I do have insurance against investigation, but it is a very stressful situation. I'm trying to work in a very stressful job environment and the hmrc seem to have no perception of why workers like me are essential to authorities meeting their statutory obligations. Without us filling he demand on short term contracts the system would collapse.
When looking at the business entity tests there is no way I could fulfil every one of them totally, but I still think I am outside IR 35. Supply and demand for highly skilled social workers like myself makes me feel that I should be able to operate as I do outside IR 35.
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