Going from redundancy to contract

[MarillionFan]

Thanks everyone ...

The job would be the same he is a 3D environment artist and would be employed on contract as a 3D environment artist.

The company have said they are streamlining the business as they can't afford to the pay the artists when they are in between projects. He has been told which agency they will be using and they will require contractors in about 4-6 weeks.

Really don't want to have to pay tax on his redundancy pay he is already going to loose out on future bonuses (royalties) on his previous project. I had read a bit about IR35 I will try and read up a bit more. But surely if he is going to be caught by IR35 then his employers (a large company) shouldn't be telling him to apply for contract work.

Classic. Exactly why rules were bought in.

I do hope he realises that he needs to be paid more for the work as a freelance as opposed to what he was earning.

If he was earning £800 per week. Gets made redundant and they want to pay him £800 per week as a freelance. Poor show. Make sure he's getting freelance rates.

[mudskipper]

Classic. Exactly why rules were bought in.

I do hope he realises that he needs to be paid more for the work as a freelance as opposed to what he was earning.

If he was earning £800 per week. Gets made redundant and they want to pay him £800 per week as a freelance. Poor show. Make sure he's getting freelance rates.

I'm sure he ain't stupid. But MF has a point - make sure he knows his worth. A rule of thumb is 1000x hourly salary = perm salary. So if he was on 45K, he should be looking at 45ph.

[malvolio]

Since this applies to a number of people ("the artists") then his employers are a bunch of bastards and he should consider taking them to an industrial tribunal as one of his options.

They are probably breaking the rules.

Link: Your rights if made redundant : Directgov - Employment

Exactly right. All the people in this need to be talking to an employment tribunal and mentioning things like "constructive dismissal" and "fraud". Not wanting to sound dramatic, but this is bloody serious. Get some professional advice.

[Fred Bloggs]

Mal is right. This is a classic case of the employer abusing their employees by the sounds of it. If the person happened to be in a trade union, they would fund a case like this all the way and they should too.

[SueEllen]

The job would be the same he is a 3D environment artist and would be employed on contract as a 3D environment artist.

The company have said they are streamlining the business as they can't afford to the pay the artists when they are in between projects. He has been told which agency they will be using and they will require contractors in about 4-6 weeks.

An employment tribunal judge and the taxman will have fun with that time limit as if an employer can see work picking up in that time frame then they shouldn't be making staff redundant.

I would have a talk with ACAS over this and then go and see an employment lawyer. Though it may be prudent to wait until the jobs are actually advertised so he has proof it wasn't a real redundancy.

Even if your husband doesn't want to to take it to tribunal he will have to avoid working for his ex-employer for at least 6 months* and work for someone else in the meantime unless he wants to pay tax on his redundancy pay.

BTW the time limit isn't stated in law but it's a case of not raising flags with HRMC. One of my mate is in a similar situation but his ex-employer won't touch him for a year.

[mudskipper]

Even if your husband doesn't want to to take it to tribunal he will have to avoid working for his ex-employer for at least 6 months* and work for someone else in the meantime unless he wants to pay tax on his redundancy pay.

Where did you find that SE? I was in a similar position - although what I'm doing as a contractor is quite different to what I was doing when perm.