Maternity Cover Role

[northernladuk]

Contract amended & approved by Hays

So, not exactly boomed because it's way under my normal day rate but it does at least see me through to April & it's 15 miles down the road.

Sounds like a boom all day long to me. We do so many short term gig's you get the odd not so golden one. It's exactly what we do and any chance to get an invoice in deserves a

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Contract amended & approved by Hays

So, not exactly boomed because it's way under my normal day rate but it does at least see me through to April & it's 15 miles down the road.

[missinggreenfields]

Now to see if the agency will play ball.

They might

It's Hays...

Ah

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Have you tried negotiating these terms? If they are willing to change this then you could turn this into a bit of a plus for IR35 purposes.

E.g. if the person you are covering is on a team of 5 who share project and BAU work, but you can specify in you SoW that you work on only one (or even a few) projects and nothing more then get rid of this shadowing nonsense it's not bad at all, provided they stick to it.

Sell yourself as an expert and that you think they'll be able to deliver the projects quicker with you focussed on the area you specialise in and the team picking up the slack on BAU work.

I'd have that down as an IR35 win if you can pull it off.

I've had another chat with them & it would appear that I'm going to be involved in 3 separate projects.

The said they have no problem with the agency detailing these 3 projects in a schedule with some kind of additional clause along the lines of "...and any additional duties subject to the prior consent of the service provider".

Now to see if the agency will play ball. It's Hays...

By the way, yes the short commute is worth a lot to me as I'm in the process of moving house. There's no way I could support that with a staying away from home role or a 2 hour each way commute (which is the norm for me)

[WordIsBond]

How's your war chest for sitting on the bench a while? It's October, how many contracts open up in your sector in the run-up to Christmas? Pass on this and you might be waiting until Jan/Feb. Maybe you have the reserves and want to go skiing anyway and that's not a big deal.

Maybe the short commute is worth a lot to you.

Maybe you could get them to go 10% higher and that would make it worth it to you?

Those are factors only you can decide.

Can you get them to split it into two contracts, one that lists specific projects and the other is "fill in where needed"? If so, you could have most of this outside IR35 and the "fill in where needed" contract is inside.

A lot of women take more than 6 months maternity leave, if this works well for them they may be looking for longer. Of course you can walk after 6 months if you don't like it or the pay is just too low, but if you can get the terms better, this could be good for you long term and another place that might call you back someday. Never hurts to build up your "happy former client" list.

[FrontEnder]

It's 25% below my usual rate, though it's only 15 miles away which is a luxury I'm not normally afforded.

It's a question of do I take it because nothing else may come along before Christmas & I've already been out of work for 2 months or do I hold out for the elusive upturn....

I have to confess, the thought of "shadowing" somebody until mid December fills me with dread (aside from the IR35 issues) so I'm leaning towards the "holding out for something better" option.

Have you tried negotiating these terms? If they are willing to change this then you could turn this into a bit of a plus for IR35 purposes.

E.g. if the person you are covering is on a team of 5 who share project and BAU work, but you can specify in you SoW that you work on only one (or even a few) projects and nothing more then get rid of this shadowing nonsense it's not bad at all, provided they stick to it.

Sell yourself as an expert and that you think they'll be able to deliver the projects quicker with you focussed on the area you specialise in and the team picking up the slack on BAU work.

I'd have that down as an IR35 win if you can pull it off.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

If you can stand the rate ... she might not come back, also if your through the door could lead to other work.

It's 25% below my usual rate, though it's only 15 miles away which is a luxury I'm not normally afforded.

It's a question of do I take it because nothing else may come along before Christmas & I've already been out of work for 2 months or do I hold out for the elusive upturn....

I have to confess, the thought of "shadowing" somebody until mid December fills me with dread (aside from the IR35 issues) so I'm leaning towards the "holding out for something better" option.

[eek]

If you want the role, then take it - don't let the tax tail wag the contracting dog and all that.

Depending on what level of salary you usually take and your age, I would look into sticking the majority of the IR35-caught income into a pension to reduce the PAYE and NI bill - that's how I treat my inside IR35 contract.

+1.

[missinggreenfields]

If you want the role, then take it - don't let the tax tail wag the contracting dog and all that.

Depending on what level of salary you usually take and your age, I would look into sticking the majority of the IR35-caught income into a pension to reduce the PAYE and NI bill - that's how I treat my inside IR35 contract.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

It is but you'd imagine his sub clause will be a sham as well.

Yes, because I'd be spending the first month shadowing the person I'm replacing so they're hardly to let any Tom, Dick or Harry take over at the drop of a hat.

[northernladuk]

SDC is only one third of IR35,
it's only 6 months,
if it's a cr@p rate then are you really putting that much potential tax at risk? (after salary/pension for the year?)

It is but you'd imagine his sub clause will be a sham as well.

[pr1]

Been offered a 6 monther to cover someone on maternity leave. Cr@p rate, but it's very local.

Haven't accepted so haven't had a contract review done yet but it looks like I'm essentially going to be doing the job of a permie for 6 months - i.e. working on multiple projects, doing my stint on the support rota once a month etc. Doing what they ask me to do when they ask me to do it, in other words.

Any way of mitigating the obvious IR35 aspect of a role like this ?

SDC is only one third of IR35,
it's only 6 months,
if it's a cr@p rate then are you really putting that much potential tax at risk? (after salary/pension for the year?)

[northernladuk]

If the contract passes, and I'd be a bit disappointed if it did from what you say, you could take out IR35 insurance and hope for the best? Might cover the losses but not the pain of being investigated.

[SlipTheJab]

Been offered a 6 monther to cover someone on maternity leave. Cr@p rate, but it's very local.

Haven't accepted so haven't had a contract review done yet but it looks like I'm essentially going to be doing the job of a permie for 6 months - i.e. working on multiple projects, doing my stint on the support rota once a month etc. Doing what they ask me to do when they ask me to do it, in other words.

Any way of mitigating the obvious IR35 aspect of a role like this ?

Nope, next!

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Been offered a 6 monther to cover someone on maternity leave. Cr@p rate, but it's very local.

Haven't accepted so haven't had a contract review done yet but it looks like I'm essentially going to be doing the job of a permie for 6 months - i.e. working on multiple projects, doing my stint on the support rota once a month etc. Doing what they ask me to do when they ask me to do it, in other words.

Any way of mitigating the obvious IR35 aspect of a role like this ?