Contractors Amongst Those Most Affected by HMRC Error

In the aftermath of the recent tax errors caused by flaws in the PAYE system, it is thought that contractors could be amongst those worst hit by the issue. Between April 2007 and March 2009, some six million people are believed to have paid the incorrect amount of tax. read more...

Marketing consultant in Berkshire receives top freelancer award

The winner of The PCG Freelancer Award in The Remote Worker Awards, in association with BT Business, has been announced as self employed Jane Rimmer from Binfield, Berkshire at a ceremony held at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London. read more...

Government plans for industry enforcement welcomed by REC

The Government's announcement that, despite forthcoming budgets, it does not currently plan to reduce the work of the Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate has been welcomed as positive news for the industry by the REC. read more...

Small Drop In UK Unemployment

Figures released by The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown that UK unemployment has reduced in the three months to July. The latest ONS figures show that unemployment fell by around 8,000 to 2.47 million. read more...

Changes made in Hays' UK & Ireland management

In important news for the recruitment industry and contractors it has been announced that Royston Hoggarth will assume the role of Hays UK & Ireland managing director from the 1 October. Mr Hoggarth was previously BT's Global Services UK chief executive. Hays will see a marked shift in their management structure. read more...

PCG's inaugural Freelance Lecture: Book now

All freelance contractors will be aware of the Professional Contractors Group (PCG), who give a voice to freelancers throughout the UK. Every year the PCG organises a National Freelancers Day and this year they have announced it will take place on the 23 November 2010 at Stationer's Hall, London. The highlight of the day is the PCG's inaugural Freelance Lecture and the PCG have recently started taking bookings for the prestigious event. read more...

Demand For Clear Picture Of Government's Agency Worker Strategy

Ministers have been warned by the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) that unless a clear picture of the Government's plans for Agency Workers Regulations is presented there is the distinct possibility that the UK's freelance workforce will be undermined, thereby causing disruption to the UK's recovery from the economic downturn. Recently the FCSA were moved to arrange legal advice for its concerned members regarding the affect of the proposed Agency Worker Regulations. read more...

HMRC To Tackle EBT Contractor Schemes

It has recently been announced that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are to tackle non compliance in the tax system head on with a new strategy which will cost in the region of £900 million. Needless to say, the news may have some contractors feeling concerned over their own tax practices. read more...

"All Staff" Emails and IR35 Investigations: Why You Shouldn"t Panic

If you're a contractor eager to avoid being swept up in the IR35 net, you might be dismayed to find yourself being included in "all staff" emails. The whole point of contracting of course is that you're not staff - you're an independent freelancer, and if you're categorised as an employee, the HMRC may well scent a little blood in the water and come sniffing around for extra tax revenues from your income. read more...

VAT Concession To Continue For Nursing Agencies

HM Revenue and Customs have confirmed to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) that the availability of the Concession on VAT for supplying nurses will continue to be available to employment businesses. The REC Legal Team's continual lobbying of HMRC has paid dividends, with HMRC backing down on its position to end the concession. read more...

Government Planned Immigration Caps Could Damage Industry

Following comments from Business Secretary Vince Cable, confirming that restrictions in place on immigration are already costing thousands of jobs and damaging the country's fragile recovery, the REC is urging the Government to consider the needs of the British jobs market before imposing any caps on immigration. read more...

Flexibility the key to supporting Scotland's job market

Freelance contractors will no doubt have been alerted to the widespread concern over Scotland's job market, which has seen a marked rise in unemployment figures to 239,000 in the quarter up to July. This has left many who work in or with companies based within Scotland concerned over whether they will have their work contracts affected in any way. read more...

Contractor businesses taking care of themselves

Freelance contractors will find a great deal of interest in the newly released research by banking payment body BACS, which has revealed that 56 per cent of SMEs, which includes contractor businesses, in Britain are not relying on Government support to overcome the problems caused by the late payments issue affecting many and that the number of companies affected by late payments in June 2010 has fallen by 20 per cent in only six months. read more...

New Leader of the Opposition Ed Milliband congratulated by REC

The REC has congratulated Ed Milliband who has won the contest to be appointed the new Leader of the Opposition. In a response to the confirmation of Ed Milliband's appointment, REC Chief Executive Kevin Green said: "Press reports have focused on this as a "lurch to the left" and there was concerning rhetoric during the Leadership campaign. read more...

Contractors reminded of HMRC tax evasion crackdown

Contractors should remind themselves of the Government's announced crackdown on tax evasion, which may well affect them and lead to long investigations and, as one accountancy firm has recently stated, might see a great deal of innocent firms and self employed workers having to disclose their tax practices to clear themselves. read more...

Industry message delivered by REC to Home Office Business Advisory Panel

The Home Office's Business Advisory Panel invited the REC to attend their meeting last week and voice the opinions of their members on a range of pertinent topics which included better regulatory measures, new immigration policy and vetting and barring. Made up of senior Government representatives, leading business organisations members and representatives from trade bodies, the Panel took heed of the industry's views on the planned immigration cap and stated that the REC's and other business organisation's views would be considered when policy comes to be finalised. read more...

PAYE System Could Be Centralised

A recent paper released last week discusses HMRC plans to collect taxpayers' deductions using a new PAYE centralised system. Various methods were examined by the HMRC to improve the current PAYE system, which has been in place since 1944. The system currently in use does not allow for easy calculations in what has become an overly complicated process. read more...

Government's National Security Contractor Vetting Clarification

Contractors will find great interest in the recent clarification of the Government's policy on vetting for jobs requiring security clearance. The new coalition has reiterated that employers should not demand that prospective contractors already be in possession of security clearance, subsequent to a recent online petition prompting the Government to respond with a clarification of their policy. read more...

PCG Advice On Getting Involved With National Freelancers Day

The PCG have provided some straight forward advice on how to get involved with National Freelancers Day. This year's event is focusing on how industry is changing and how a freelancer can position themselve for success. By getting involved you will benefit from great practical advice, new ideas and insights and of course the opportunity to network with many like-minded people from the contracting world. Here are some of the PCGs suggestions on how to get involved and make the most of your National Freelancers Day. Six very easy ways to get involved: Read and submit some top freelance tips by clicking here. read more...

HMRC Place Self Employed And Small Firms Under Spotlight

A contractor accountancy firm has issued a strong warning to self-employed freelance contractors and small new businesses to be extremely cautious with their VAT and general tax record keeping. Smith & Williamson have highlighted the fact that they believe these groups will come under close scrutiny from HM Revenue and Customs during their tax crackdown, as they have often been viewed as the key groups at risk of having made mistakes in their tax affairs. read more...

One year until Agency Workers Regulations implemented

Contractors will be interested to know that this month sees the beginning of the one year countdown to when the new Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) will be implemented. October 2011 is already being prepared for by recruitment professionals and the REC has been busy working with client organisations and industry members in preparation. read more...

IT Graduates Most Likely To Start Own Businesses

New research by specialist small business insurer Hiscox has revealed that graduates in IT and computing as freelance contractors are most likely to create their own Ltd Company. The Hiscox study identified IT and computing graduates as the group favourite to become entrepreneurs (38 per cent) with business management students closely following them (27 per cent). read more...

New National Minimum Wage rates

1st October has seen the National Minimum Wage rates increased, with the Adult minimum wage rate being extended for workers aged 21. In addition to the existing minimum wage rates, a new rate has also been set for Apprentices on the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission (LPC). read more...

PAYE Reforms Should Be Explored Further

The Government's proposed improvements for the PAYE system could bring benefits for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), employers and employees together, but implementing them will pose significant challenges and will require a great amount of time, effort and money to be invested if they are to achieve the optimum success. At least, this is the belief stated by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), who have responded to proposals outlined in a recent HMRC discussion paper: 'Improving the operation of Pay As You Earn (PAYE)'. read more...

35,000 Temp Jobs Created By 2011 Census

Freelance contractors may be interested to hear that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently launched a major national recruitment campaign creating 35,000 jobs across England and Wales and giving a significant boost to the jobs market. read more...

Interest Rates Held at 0.5% Again

Once again as widely expected, The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep UK interest rates at 0.5% - for the 19th month in a row. Policymaker Andrew Sentance has continually voted for rates to rise from this historically low position, because of concerns about inflationary pressures. read more...

UK House Prices See Record Falls

UK house prices have fallen by a record 3.6% in September compared with the August prices, taking the average cost of a UK home down to £162,096, reported the Halifax. This monthly decline is the biggest since records began in 1983. The Halifax however, feels it is still too soon to suggest that this is the start of a slump in house prices. read more...

REC plays central role at Eurociett/ILO Seminar in Budapest

The latest feedback on the progress being made to develop the recruitment market and the role of freelance contractors within EU member states was given at last week's Eurociett/ILO Seminar in Budapest. The conference also examined the part that national federations can play and on methods for increasing professionalism and raising the profile of the sector. read more...

Government places pressure on EU to reform regulation

Freelance contractors may be interested to hear that the European Commission's new plans to decrease the regulatory red tape on businesses have been welcomed by the UK Government. However, the Government were quick to highlight that moving forward they wanted wiser decisions made in relation to European regulation moving forward. read more...

Forum of Private Business Demands Tax System Reform

In the run up to the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), the Forum of Private Business (FPB) have called upon the Government to reform the tax system removing bureaucratic red tape,so as to improve the growth of small businesses and achieve the savings target of £20 billion. Certainly, a reduction in the bureaucracy surrounding tax returns would also greatly benefit freelance contractors.  read more...

REC responds to new unemployment statistics

The new Office for National Statistics (ONS) report published yesterday has indicated there are 2.45 million unemployed people in the UK, which constitutes a 20,000 fall in the three months up to August. This is also a 0.1 per cent fall over the quarter. read more...

New Freelancers Could Benefit From Enterprise Allowance

Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions recently revealed plans to support people who have been out of work by offering the jobless cash payments linked to the value of their benefits as they seek to set up a business. read more...

Development of skills policy needs the recruitment industry

The REC has announced that it believes the recruitment industry must play a more substantial part in shaping skills policy in the future and has communicated their belief to the Government in their response to the recently organised 'Skills for Sustainable Growth' consultation. The consultation paper's publication was announced by Skills Minister John Hayes, who highlighted key features contained within such as how to drive the progress of high level apprenticeships, investment in learning by businesses and how to make sure new skills are given to workers through training rather than just accreditation. read more...

REC Survey Reveals Temps Are First Affected By Public Sector Cuts

The results from a survey conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) have created a clearer picture of how cuts are already hitting public sector levels of employment. The survey indicates that agency workers have been the first to be impacted by the cuts and the REC believes approximately 120,000 temporary jobs have been lost over the past three months, many of which were vital roles. read more...

PCG Urges Freelancers to Share Their Views on the Future

The PCG has launched a survey to gauge the current feelings of freelance contractors on the state of the employment market, and how freelancers are viewed within it. Chief concerns include whether freelancers believe their skills are truly valued and whether companies or organisations who engage freelance contractors welcome motivated and skilled people into the team. read more...

Freelance Contractors Can Help Get Britain Back On Top

The PCG yesterday issued a rallying call, that freelance contractors can play a huge role in ensuring Britain's resurgence as an economic heavyweight, following the Government's comprehensive spending review. With the comprehensive spending review seeming certain to change the economic and social conditions of Britain forever, all businesses and communities will be effected from the deepest cuts seen in living memory. read more...

Government rejects AWR review but commits to reform

The Government had decided not to review their Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) published in January 2009, confirmed Employment Relations Minister Ed Davey, in a recently issued a statement in the House of Commons. This will certainly have an effect on the employment sector at large and freelance contractors will wish to follow the developments as they unfold. read more...

REC issue response to Comprehensive Spending Review

That there will be a significant impact made by cuts on the public sector jobs market was recently confirmed by the Comprehensive Spending Review. The REC has given an initial response assessing how it will affect recruiters, which will provide a helpful overview for freelance contractors. Key issues detailed in the Spending Review included notification that 490,000 public sector positions will be cut over the following four years, that there would be more investment into apprenticeships, a total of a 50 per cent increase which will create 75,000 new apprenticeships and that greater support will be given to workers in low-carbon businesses. read more...

Freelance Contractors Should Include FAQs On Their Website

Freelance contractors, consultants and interim managers could be making two costly mistakes by not equipping their professional blog or business website with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section. This is according to the respected advice of industry expert Laura Spencer, who has worked in the US freelance market for 19 years, sharing her insight in the US online resource Freelance Folder. read more...