According to Unite the sharp rise in workers operating via CIS demonstrates that the government’s hopes of reducing construction bogus self-employment, has failed. In 2014 the government introduced measures that barred construction workers operating via engagers (employment agencies and payroll companies) from being self-employed. CIS is the stand alone tax system for construction workers. Workers paid via the scheme are normally officially classified as self-employed although the nature of their engagement means that the vast majority are bogusly self- employed.
The bogusly self-employed have all the employment characteristics of an employee but are denied even the most basic employment rights such as holiday and sick pay and can be instantly dismissed without warning.
The principal beneficiaries of bogus self-employment are employers who do not pay employers’ national insurance contributions of 13.8 per cent and don’t have to pay employee benefits such as holiday pay.
The government’s 2014 reforms led to a huge increase in workers being paid via umbrella companies, which results in the worker having to pay both employers’ and employees’ national insurance contributions as well as a plethora of other deductions from their wages. The government has previously conservatively estimated there are 430,000 workers being paid via umbrella companies, the majority of whom work in construction. The government’s much heralded Taylor Review, while calling for it to be clearer to “distinguish” between workers and self-employed workers fails to address how existing Treasury policies are creating bogus self-employment and causing worker exploitation.
Gail Cartmail, assistant general secretary, of Unite said
“We have huge numbers of construction workers being routinely exploited via the government’s own tax scheme and via umbrella companies and yet the Taylor Review has ducked these issues...
The only way that workers will be treated fairly and decently is by introducing clear rules which ensure that workers are either genuinely self-employed or paid by a standard PAYE method. Without such a reform, productivity in construction will remain low, accidents and ill health will be high and the industry will fail to train sufficient numbers of apprentices.”
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The role of the Return to Work Plan after sickness absence 16 August 2017
Are you new to managing staff or need a refresher on the Return to Work Plan under Fit for Work?
Anyone who is referred to Fit for Work and has a discussion with a case manager receives a Return to Work Plan, which will include advice and recommendations for a safe return to work. Wherever possible an agreed schedule for the return to work will also be included. A sample Return to Work Plan from Fit for Work can be found in the employer toolkit .
The Return to Work Plan would cover the following aspects:
A summary of the issues/obstacles that are making it difficult for employees to return to work (e.g. stress leading to anxiety). Recommendations and solutions to help overcome the issues (e.g. counselling). Adjustments to work (e.g. a short-term change of responsibilities) and the timescales for which these adjustments are likely to be necessary. Signposting to independent agencies that could provide support (e.g. Mind). Possible interventions (e.g. physiotherapy, counselling) which could help employees return to work more quickly and save employers money in the long-term. Any agreed follow ups, which may be necessary in order to check the employee’s progress. As the Return to Work Plan also contains the information that would be on a Statement of Fitness for Work or ‘fit note’, it can be used as evidence by employers instead of a GP-issued fit note when considering entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay. If the individual can’t return within three months, then a further fit note will be required at that time from their GP.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
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