The emergence of the ‘on demand’ workforce, demands for more flexible working practices, and the tax and social security benefits of self-employment – together with new ways of allocating work enabled by technology and remote working - have all contributed to the growth of self-employment.
Case law battles, various Government reviews and frequent media coverage often with a negative slant have made this an intense area of scrutiny with the potential for significant legal and reputational damage.
We have extensive experience of the complex employment and tax law issues involved in navigating status matters. Our experts help ensure you have a legally robust and competitive engagement model that can withstand challenges from unions, the workforce, tax authorities and other relevant stakeholders.
Our experience includes:
- Advising a wide range of platform economy companies on employment status issues, including successfully defending Deliveroo all the way to the UK’s Supreme Court
- Advising on numerous consultancy, freelancer and other independent contractor arrangements (both directly and indirectly engaged), so that these comply with employment and tax laws.
- Helping clients manage requests for working from home and remote working arrangements, often on a self-employed basis;
- Assisting companies to plan for compliance with the new EU Platform Workers Directive (and with similar legislation in other countries).
- Keeping companies up to speed on the constantly evolving legal landscape.