Originally posted by malvolio
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I'm sure the PCG meant well but they got the wrong end of the stick thinking that any freelancer who employs a subbie is going to be under the regs which is not true because they don't match the legal definition of an agency. The only people that benefit from the opt out are the agencies and I accept that this will catch a very small minority of contractors who were already operating as employment agencies but hey - an agency is an agency.
The bottom line is that the PCG have scored a massive own goal by negotiating the opt out clause and it's allowed agencies to flout the law shamelessly by getting people like umbrella workers to think they can opt out when they can't. With an opt out in their hand, the agencies can then ignore all the protections of the law.
This abuse of the opt out (for example by getting umbrella workers to opt out) is a scandal that the PCG should investigate but I suppose they are too embarrassed to do it because they were the ones who argued for the opt out to be included in the first place.
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