{"id":8545,"date":"2023-06-12T05:53:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T05:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/?page_id=8545"},"modified":"2023-09-16T11:41:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T11:41:49","slug":"self-employed-and-contractor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/","title":{"rendered":"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>SELF-EMPLOYED<\/strong>: It is a person who runs a business in their own right. Thus, self employed workers take responsibility for the successes or the failures.<\/p>\n<p>Self-employment status means your rights and responsibilities include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paying your own National Insurance Contributions and tax.<\/li>\n<li>Not getting paid not through the PAYE system.<\/li>\n<li>Determining what to charge for your services and how much holiday time to take off work.<\/li>\n<li>Having less employment rights than someone in <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/employee\/\">employee status<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"content-inner-block\">\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: It is not uncommon for an individual to be self-employed and employed at the same time. Thus, you could be self-employed for tax purposes and <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/worker\/\">classed as a worker<\/a> (or employee) for employment rights. It might apply if you work for an employer during the day time and you are the boss of your own business in the evenings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>Self Employed Employment Rights<\/h2>\n<p>Being your own boss means you do not get total cover from the <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/laws-list\/\">full list of UK employment laws<\/a>. Even so, having self-employed employment status means you do get:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some protection on health and safety and limited protection of <a href=\"\/rules\/legal\/community\/discrimination-rights\/\">being discriminated against<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Entitlement to <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/benefits\/families\/maternity-allowance\/\">Maternity Allowance<\/a> for some self-employed women who recently left their jobs.<\/li>\n<li>Details of their rights and responsibilities set out as per the terms of contracts with their clients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>Working Out Self Employed Status<\/h2>\n<p>HM Revenue and Customs can treat a person as being self-employed for taxation. This applies even if the person has a different status for employment law purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, all employers should check whether their workers are self-employed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In employment law: Do they have employee rights?<\/li>\n<li>In tax law: Are they exempt from paying PAYE?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: There are severe penalties for having the wrong <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/\">employment status<\/a>. Employers, and individuals, may need to pay any unpaid tax or lose entitlement to benefits.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>Checking Exemption for PAYE<\/h2>\n<p>As a rule, you would have self-employed status, and should not get paid through PAYE, if some or most of these apply:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You are in business for yourself. That means you are the person responsible for the success or failure of your own business. As such, it can make a profit or it can make a loss.<\/li>\n<li>You can decide what work you do and when to do it. You get to determine where and how to perform the tasks.<\/li>\n<li>You can choose to hire someone else to carry out the work on your behalf.<\/li>\n<li>You would be responsible for fixing any unsatisfactory work and in your own time.<\/li>\n<li>Your employer agrees a fixed price for the work you do. Thus, the time it takes to finish the task does not determine the fee.<\/li>\n<li>You use your own money to buy business assets and cover the running costs. You provide your own tools and equipment for the work.<\/li>\n<li>In some cases, you may perform work for more than one client at a time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: You can check if someone is self-employed or employed online or by phoning HMRC. Special rules apply to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/employment-status-employment-intermediaries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">employment intermediaries<\/a> who supply workers (e.g. employment agencies).<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>HMRC Check Employment Status<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Telephone: <a href=\"tel:03001232326\">0300 123 2326<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nOpening times: Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 4:30pm<br \/>\n<a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/working\/time-off\/bank-holiday-calendar\/\">Closed United Kingdom bank holidays<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HM Revenue and Customs<\/strong><br \/>\nEmployment Status Customer Service Unit<br \/>\nS0733<br \/>\nNewcastle Upon Tyne<br \/>\nNE98 1ZZ<br \/>\nUnited Kingdom<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>Checking Someone&#8217;s Employment Rights<\/h2>\n<p>Self-employed workers do not have the same rights as those with <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/employee\/\">employee employment status<\/a>. Thus, you would be self employed and exempt from PAYE if some or most of these apply:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You give out quotes, or put in bids, to get work and then issue invoices when it gets finished.<\/li>\n<li>You are not under direct supervision while you are working.<\/li>\n<li>You are responsible for paying your own <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/taxation\/income-tax\/\">Income Tax<\/a> and <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/taxation\/national-insurance\/overview\/\">National Insurance<\/a> contributions.<\/li>\n<li>You do not get sick pay or holiday when you are not working.<\/li>\n<li>You operate under a contract (also called a &#8216;contract for services&#8217; or &#8216;consultancy agreement&#8217;). It uses terms such as &#8216;self-employed&#8217;, &#8216;independent contractor&#8217;, or &#8216;consultant&#8217;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>Contractor Employment Status<\/h2>\n<p>A contractor can either be self-employed, a worker, or an employee. This might apply if they work for a client and employed by an agency.<\/p>\n<p>A special scheme exists for self-employed contractors and sub-contractors who work in the construction industry. The scheme is officially called the <a href=\"\/rules\/business\/tax\/construction-industry-scheme\/\">Construction Industry Scheme<\/a> (CIS).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: If you become self-employed as a worker you must <a href=\"\/rules\/employment\/taxation\/hmrc\/\">inform Her Majesty&#8217;s Revenue and Customs<\/a> (HMRC).<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"updated-data\"><strong>Employment Status for Self-employed and Contractor in the United Kingdom<\/strong><br \/>\n<time datetime=\"2022-01-01\">Last Updated 2022<\/time><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SELF-EMPLOYED: It is a person who runs a business in their own right. Thus, self employed workers take responsibility for the successes or the failures. Self-employment status means your rights and responsibilities include: Paying your own National Insurance Contributions and tax. Not getting paid not through the PAYE system. Determining what to charge for your&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":5641,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors - UK Rules<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors - UK Rules\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SELF-EMPLOYED: It is a person who runs a business in their own right. Thus, self employed workers take responsibility for the successes or the failures. Self-employment status means your rights and responsibilities include: Paying your own National Insurance Contributions and tax. Not getting paid not through the PAYE system. Determining what to charge for your&hellip; Continue reading Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UK Rules\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-16T11:41:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/\",\"name\":\"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors - UK Rules\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-12T05:53:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-16T11:41:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alphabetical List of United Kingdom Rules and Regulations\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Employment Rules and Regulations UK\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Employing People | Employer Guide to Hiring or Firing Staff\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Contracts of Employment UK | Employee Working Hours\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"UK Employment Status Types, Meanings, and Definitions\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":7,\"name\":\"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"UK Rules\",\"description\":\"The UK Rules\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UK Rules\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/logo-white.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/logo-white.svg\",\"width\":191,\"height\":23,\"caption\":\"UK Rules\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors - UK Rules","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors - UK Rules","og_description":"SELF-EMPLOYED: It is a person who runs a business in their own right. Thus, self employed workers take responsibility for the successes or the failures. Self-employment status means your rights and responsibilities include: Paying your own National Insurance Contributions and tax. Not getting paid not through the PAYE system. Determining what to charge for your&hellip; Continue reading Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/","og_site_name":"UK Rules","article_modified_time":"2023-09-16T11:41:49+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/","name":"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors - UK Rules","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-06-12T05:53:42+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-16T11:41:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/self-employed-and-contractor\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alphabetical List of United Kingdom Rules and Regulations","item":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Employment Rules and Regulations UK","item":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Employing People | Employer Guide to Hiring or Firing Staff","item":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Contracts of Employment UK | Employee Working Hours","item":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"UK Employment Status Types, Meanings, and Definitions","item":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/rules\/employment\/employing\/contracts\/employment-status\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":7,"name":"Self Employed Employment Status | Rights for Contractors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/","name":"UK Rules","description":"The UK Rules","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#organization","name":"UK Rules","url":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/logo-white.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/logo-white.svg","width":191,"height":23,"caption":"UK Rules"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8545"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24894,"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8545\/revisions\/24894"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theukrules.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}