Monthly Archives: February 2022

What to do if you want to be enroled on an employer pension scheme from day one (and the employer says “no”)

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Paul Evans

Freelancers – and anyone who works short contracts of employment – may find that they lose a lot by not being auto-enrolled in pension schemes from day one. If an employer refuses your request to be put onto the auto-enrolment … Continue reading →

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Pensions | Tagged | Leave a comment

Changes to Statutory Sick Pay and Employment and Support Allowance (CoViD)

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Paul Evans

On Monday, the Prime Minister announced an end to day-one access to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), effective from the 1st April 2022. After that point, workers suffering from CoViD-related illness will have to wait until their fourth day of illness … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Low pay | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Bectu Mental Health and Welbeing Policy published

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Paul Evans

This was an idea that came from Bectu members during the pandemic. We did a load of online sessions discussing different aspects of the question “what is wrong with ‘the freelance deal’?” and there was a repeated refrain saying “our … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Health & Safety, High End TV data, Long hours, Management, Mental Health, Safe working practices, Safe working standards, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged | Leave a comment

The cost of employing someone

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Paul Evans

I’ve written something that has been hanging over me for months – something I needed to write to understand the issue myself, but also something that will help me explain this issue to others. It’s here if you want to … Continue reading →

Posted in IR35, Tax | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Even more on Adrian Chiles – IBOYOA

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Paul Evans

Last week, reading about Adrian Chiles judgement, there was one thing that I read, and thought that the report had managed a bit, so i passed it over. It was something about Adrian Chiles being ‘part and parcel’ of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, IR35, Personal Service Companies, Tax | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More Adrian Chiles (this time, it’s IR35)

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Paul Evans

This is an unprecedented second post in one day about Adrian Chiles. Tony Lennon has been in touch to nod me towards Chiles’ legal vindication against HMRC where his appeal has established that – in working through his media-based company, … Continue reading →

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Pensions Auto-Enrolment – the basics for freelancers

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Paul Evans

The short version of this article: Employers may try to postpone the ‘auto-enrolment’ of people into their pension scheme and they may try to do it for people who are only on short-term contracts. But it is almost always in … Continue reading →

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Adrian Chiles on the value of good sound recordists

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Paul Evans

From here: “….the sound is monitored and adjusted remotely on a heavy, pricey mixer slung around someone’s neck. This is how it’s been done for decades. The unusual thing here was that we actually had a specialist sound recordist on … Continue reading →

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What does “supervision, direction and control” mean?

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Paul Evans

Supervision, direction and control” are key factors in determining employment status. Summarising HMRC’s Employment Status Manual (ESM2055 – Agency and temporary workers),  Contractor Calculator has a more succinct explanation – here. The main problem that Bectu is seeking to get … Continue reading →

Posted in Freelance working, IR35, Personal Service Companies, Tax | Tagged , | Leave a comment

IR35 in the public sector – HMRC criticised

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Paul Evans

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published its report on the rollout of IR35 reforms to tax rules for off-payroll working in the public sector. Readers may recall that this happened in 2017 (as distinct from the extension of the … Continue reading →

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January’s inflation figures

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Paul Evans

Today’s UK inflation figures show cost-of-living increases that reach the highest rate for over 30 years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation increased to 5.5% in January from 5.4% a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Inflation, Pay & inflation, Wages and Pay-rates | Tagged | Leave a comment

Looking Glass ’21 report

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Paul Evans

The Film and TV Charity have published their Looking Glass ’21 report. This is a follow-up from their research in 2019 into working conditions in the film and TV industry, and how these impact workers based on responses from more … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, Film & TV industry data, Freelance working, Health & Safety, Long hours, Management, Mental Health, Skills & capacity, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Understanding self-employed pension tax relief

Posted on February 14, 2022 by Paul Evans

I occasionally have contact from freelance members who aren’t happy that they have been enrolled into a pension scheme as a result of the statutory auto-enrolment. My normal response is – firstly – to remind members that they are turning … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Freelance working, Pensions | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Actors and tax

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Paul Evans

I’ve not had any queries across my desk asking about the tax position of actors, though it is something that could be pertinent to our FAA members (though I don’t think that there’s much question that people on relatively short … Continue reading →

Posted in IR35, Tax | Tagged | Leave a comment

Food shopping costs soar

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Paul Evans

Behind a lot of the headlines on inflation (soaring energy and fuel costs in particular), there’s one other important factor to bear in mind – particularly for people on low incomes. While the CPIH inflation rate puts the impact of … Continue reading →

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Shepperton update: Now Prime Video have agreed a deal.

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Paul Evans

Further to a recent post here about Shepperton (which outlined the way that Netflix were treating the studio as it’s UK production base), The Pinewood Group (Shepperton’s owners) have today confirmed that the new facilities under development will be given … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some holiday pay legal rulings

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Paul Evans

A few bookmarks here on claims for unpaid holiday pay. Firstly, here’s Mr G Smith v Pimlico Plumbers Ltd. Then there’s King v Sash Windows. The Smith/Pimlico Plumbers judgment makes clear that workers who have taken leave but have not … Continue reading →

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights | Tagged | Leave a comment

Understanding ‘Umbrella Companies’

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Paul Evans

I’ve just been preparing an explanation of how Umbrella Companies work to a Bectu member. Just writing it down is a reminder of what an obnoxious arrangement this is when you move people onto these – and this is what … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment intermediaries, Employment Law and Rights, Gig economy workers, Pensions | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bectu’s Script Registration Scheme – what it is and how it works

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Paul Evans

Some years ago, Bectu established a Script Registration Scheme to provide some protections that are not available because of a gap in the concept of Copyright. The scheme offers some protection to someone who has come up with a concept … Continue reading →

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