"Commission Based" employment

hairyfoot

My OH has been offered a position as a commission only based role, but neither of us are exactly sure what that means from a tax / employment status point of view, and are trying to get some basic information together before seeking professional advice - so would appreciate any experience or links to information about this as an employment status to help us come up with suitable questions.

The scenrio is he has been employed by the company on salary + small commission, but his probation hasn't ended and after some bad luck for the company they've had to downsize. We feel for the owners, and believe this is a suggestion they have come up with with the best of intentions of enabling him to continue working with them (while removing the overhead of his salary) until things improve. He doesn't want to do this at a risk to our livelihood, but if getting another job proves difficult, this could be a back up plan worth considering.

What they have suggested appears he maintains his employment in a sales role on a commission only basis - which they have suggested is just a matter of notifying revenue there has been a change from salary to that basis.

Is this a legitimate employment status in Ireland (i.e. salary stated as "commission only" on Revenue forms)? What are the implications? Will tax, USC, PRSI be only paid if and when he earns within a quarter, and be based on the same basis as PAYE? If that consequently means a period of PRSI stamps not being paid while the Revenue have him recorded as 'employed', will that have any negative impact on being able to go on the dole if the arrangement doesn't work out? If, for example, he took up some freelance work at the same time as self employed or a sole trader, is it acceptable from a tax point of view to be self employed and employed simultaneously? If it takes a couple of weeks to make a decision, is there an issue (from a tax point of view) of ending employement with the company on salary, then returning on commission only after a few weeks/months?

(not sure if its relevant, but we're living together but not married, nor do we have children - so I presume my employment situation is of no consequence to any of the answers.....just that I'm the control freak of the two of us and have an obsessive compulsive need to understand all possible outcomes).

Whatever action is taken, he wants to retain a good relationship, and if things improve for the company he would happily work with them again; the owners are good people who are trying to make it in a difficult market. However, while there could be a mutually beneficial arrangement in this if it works, we want to know what the risks are and protect him (us) from being in an even worse position in the not too distant future.