Category Archives: Freelance working

Why people risk insecure work

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Paul Evans

An interesting report from The Work Foundation (via Lancaster University) has just landed. Published in partnership with Unison, it looks at the choices and experiences of those in insecure work, and the kinds of interventions that could support them into … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, Productivity, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing | Tagged , | Comments Off on Why people risk insecure work

Freelancers and the welfare system

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Paul Evans

This site has carried plenty of posts about freelancing and employment status, tax status, their pension status, and it probably needs a bit more on the generality of freelancing. We often debate whether ‘freelancer’ is even a thing. It doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Equipment and kit, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Management, Personal Service Companies, Productivity, Skills & capacity, Tax, Universal Credit, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Freelancers and the welfare system

Meal expenses – update

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Paul Evans

It’s a couple of years since I posted here about meal expenses, so a small update is probably due – particularly given the inflationary leap that we’ve seen over the past couple of years. Prior to 2016, HMRC had a … Continue reading →

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Bectu Assistant Editors Toolkit published

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Paul Evans

Bectu’s Post Production & Facilities Branch have published an Assistant Editor’s Toolkit, a new professional resource to support Editorial Trainees and Assistant Editors’ career development in the cutting room.It includes a Skills Guide – a comprehensive document to keep track … Continue reading →

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

March Budget 2023 with added inflation catch-up.

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Paul Evans

Firstly, everything that was said in last week’s budget needs to be placed in some context. It seems that British economic analysts seem to have completely lost the ability to forecast inflation – a problem that may make a nonsense … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Inflation, Pay & inflation, Personal Service Companies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Unexpected rise in self-assessed tax receipts

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Paul Evans

Public sector finances are looking unexpectedly rosy following better-than-expected tax receipts. As the FT reports… “Jeremy Hunt has received an unexpected £30bn windfall in the public finances ahead of his March Budget, giving the chancellor scope to provide extra support … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Employment status, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, IR35, Tax | Tagged | Leave a comment

Four day week trial

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Paul Evans

The BBC are reporting on a UK-wide six-month trial, testing the costs and benefits of a four-day week on full pay, across a wide range of different firms. The trial was conducted between June and December 2022, organised by 4 … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Freelance working, Long hours, Management, Productivity, Wellbeing | Tagged | Leave a comment

‘Don’t discuss your pay’ clauses

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Paul Evans

Have an employer told you that you can’t discuss your pay with anyone? Or that you cannot show anyone your offer of work, or contact? Many contracts in the entertainment industry contain clauses that aim to keep the information regarding … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment Law and Rights, Equality, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gender equality, Gender pay, Wages and Pay-rates | Tagged | Leave a comment

The “freelancers can’t be safety reps” thing that people keep saying.

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Paul Evans

For some years, I’ve been told that “freelancers can’t be safety reps”. I knew it was shorthand for a more detailed explanation, but I finally got around to finding out what it meant in practice. I asked Chris Warburton, Prospect’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, Health & Safety, Trades Unions | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill – unions concerns

Posted on November 24, 2022 by Paul Evans

I’m sure that you’ve picked up some commentary about “The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill”, which was introduced to Parliament on 22 September 2022. This is a key element of the UK Government’s post-Brexit agenda and affects a … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment intermediaries, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Equality, EU & Brexit, Freelancer rights, Gender equality, Gender pay, Gig economy workers, Health & Safety, Illness and disability, Long hours, Safe working practices, Safe working standards, Welfare and benefits | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Government response to Employment Status Review

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Paul Evans

The government has now responded to the results of their 2018 consultation on Employment Statuses. (The full response can be seen in this document – pdf). The Tl;dr version of it is (paraphrasing very liberally) “people who don’t like the … Continue reading →

Posted in CJRS & SEISS, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Tax | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Freelancers and their parental rights

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Paul Evans

I’ve had a request to write a briefing on UK parental rights for freelancers on my to-do list for a while, so I was very pleased to discover the website of Maternity Action which seems to answer most of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Family rights, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gender equality, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Alliance of Documentary Editors guidance on production scheduling.

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Paul Evans

The US-based ‘Alliance of Documentary Editors’ (ADE) describes itself as “…a working group of documentary film and television editors and assistant editors nationwide that campaigns for best practices within the industry while improving members’ career sustainability. The ADE promotes a … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Freelance working, Long hours, Work-life balance | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Individual liability for safety breaches

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Paul Evans

There’s an interesting article here on Safety and Health Practitioner about a trend towards assigning liability for breaches to individuals instead of companies. “Whilst any potential breach by a business is likely to be associated with failings on the part … Continue reading →

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, Health & Safety, Safe working practices, Safe working standards | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

TUC update on insecure work

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Paul Evans

The TUC have published a report on the economy’s increased reliance upon insecure work (there are 500,000+ more insecure workers now than there were in 2016), calling for “Government inaction has left 3.7 million people in insecure work. Despite the … Continue reading →

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Irish basic income for arts workers – update

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Paul Evans

I’ve already posted a couple of times about the plan to pilot a sectoral Basic Income for arts workers in Ireland. Today I attended a TUC seminar on this with Karan O Loughlin from SIPTU (the Irish union that covers … Continue reading →

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UK economic outlook – forecasts downgraded – what this means for freelancers

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Paul Evans

Unless someone tells me otherwise, it seems that the biggest issue for many freelancers arising from the cost-of-living crisis is the question of rising fuel costs – and this is likely to hit workers in film and TV particularly hard … Continue reading →

Posted in Film & TV industry data, Freelance working, Inflation, Pay & inflation, Tax, Wages and Pay-rates | Tagged , | Leave a comment

More on TV / radio presenters and IR35

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Paul Evans

Another twist in the tale of TV and Radio Presenters in dispute with HMRC about whether they are self-employed or not. The short version – according to this report on the Contractor Weekly website – is that Paul Hawksbee – … Continue reading →

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Ireland ‘Universal Basic Income for artists’ update

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Paul Evans

As mentioned here previously, the Irish government is toying with the idea of offering a Universal Basic Income for artists and arts sector workers [£] to help even out the bumpy income that comes with freelancing. More details are emerging … Continue reading →

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Bectu ‘Live to Work’ campaign launched

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Paul Evans

Bectu has launched the Live to Work campaign aimed at improving terms and conditions in the UK TV drama industry. You can visit the campaign page here and join the network (open to members and non-members), download images to use … Continue reading →

Posted in Bectu Agreements, Film & TV industry policy, Freelance working, High End TV data, Long hours, Safe working practices, Safe working standards, TV Drama Agreement, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Useful bookmarks on freelance employment and tax policies

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Paul Evans

Here’s something written by Alan Lockey for Demos – “Free Radicals – Britain’s self-employed millions urgently need a new deal…” [pdf], and an IPSE’s 2017 ‘tax manifesto’ paper on “A Fairer, More Efficient Tax System” [pdf] (h/t Martin McIvor)

Posted in Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Personal Service Companies, Tax, Welfare and benefits | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Understanding commuting costs – some bookmarks

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Paul Evans

For freelancers working either in film and TV, or in Live Events, there is often no option to use public transport to get to work. For a typical filming day, Bectu members tell us that they tend to arrive at … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Freelance working, High End TV data, Long hours, Safe working practices, UK studios, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Professionally Made, Professionally Paid – Equity campaign

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Paul Evans

Just a quick bookmark for an excellent bit of campaigns literature from Bectu’s sister union Equity – Professionally Made, Professionally Paid – an important part of the steps unions are taking to promote a professional attitude to the arts against … Continue reading →

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Bectu / UK Theatre code of conduct for “Get-ins, Fit-ups & Get-outs”

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Paul Evans

Doug McGill has forwarded this to me. From the Preface: “The original Code of Conduct for Get-ins, Fit-ups and Get-outs was created as a result of a serious accident during the unloading of stage flooring on the back of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bectu Agreements, Equipment and kit, Freelance working, Safe working practices, Safe working standards, The working environment | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Government identity checks system changes

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Paul Evans

If you are self-employed, and you don’t have any of the following… a UK passport, pay slip, tax credit Northern Ireland driving licence … you may find yourself trying to file your next tax return on paper. I’m mentioning this … Continue reading →

Posted in Freelance working, Tax | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Flexibility Paradox

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Paul Evans

The TUC and Working Families are hosting a launch for a book called The Flexibility Paradox by Dr Heejung Chung on Wednesday 20 April at 1400. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible working has become the norm for many workers. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Freelancer rights, Gender equality, Remote working, The working environment, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Paul Evans

Freelancers Make Theatre Work is an organisation that came into being in 2020. They did their first freelance survey in June of that year called The Big Freelancer Survey. At the time, 9000 freelancers signed up to their platform, and … Continue reading →

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Getting the current cost-of-living crisis in perspective

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Paul Evans

How can we understand the current cost of living crisis in perspective when talking to Bectu members about their wages? One way would be to look at it over a few years. In the past few days, coincidentally, I’ve had … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Freelance working, Inflation, Low pay, Pay & inflation, Wages and Pay-rates, Wealth inequality, Welfare and benefits | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Sunak’s spring statement 2022 – initial details

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Paul Evans

Firstly, with inflation up again at 6.2% from 5.5%, the growth forecasts are fairly conservative at the moment and “we don’t really know how the situation in Ukraine will affect all of this” runs like a subtext to all of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Freelance working, Inflation, Low pay, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), Productivity, Tax | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

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

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

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 →

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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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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 →

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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