Deciphering your legal status and IR35
Many new freelancers and contractors may be vaguely aware of IR35, but not know when and where it applies. Before getting too intimate with the ins and outs of the IR35 legislation, the first step is to know if IR35 is even relevant to your situation.
Broadly speaking, there are three different legal structures under
Social Networking and Work – can they go together?
Smart phones, internet, social media sites, e-mails, tweeting, blogging – we have accepted all of these innovations as part of our working and daily lives – they help us to work more flexibly, stay in touch for longer and respond to each other more quickly. But several surveys and employment tribunal cases this year have shown that employers need to provide clear guidance to staff regarding how they use social networking sites.
Limited Company Contractors not always protected under Equality Act
Are LCC’s protected under the Equality Act? It is common in many industry sectors for workers to work through a Limited Liability Company (or Personal Service Company).
In a recent case at an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) – Halawi v WDFG UK Ltd – the Judges considered whether a Limited Liability Company (LLC) Contractor was
New Employment Tribunal rules from 29th July
Several important changes will happen to Employment Tribunals at the end of July. Firstly, and most importantly, Tribunal fees are being introduced. In addition, some Employment Tribunal Rules are changing and Compensatory Award limits are changing. Here we’ll run through the changes.
The new rules:
A claim from an applicant will be rejected if it is
What employment status do I have? Your contract may not provide the answer!
Recently, Freelance Advisor reported on the very important Supreme Court 2011 legal judgement on Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher and Others and how this may affect freelancers and contractors who have IR35 concerns. As this case is so important for all employees, workers and freelancers in deciding their employment status, at Workline we thought we’d explain this in more detail.
The case highlights the importance the Courts now give to finding clarity in employment relationships, not by looking at what is written down in a contract, but what is actually happening in the working relationship.
Equal Opportunties and Discrimination (Equality Act 2010)
The new Equality Act came into force on 1st October 2010 and replaces all previous equality legislation. The Equality Act covers the same groups that are protected by existing equality legislation, however, these groups will now be called “protected characteristics” (PCs). The new Act also extends protections to some other characteristics and introduces other changes. Updated for 2011.
