Advice needed, Company wants me off the books

ScottStorm

Hi,

I have been in my current position for a little over 2 years, the company had some issues recently with the union and after negotiations an agreement was reached that required some redundancies.

I am a contract employee and have been informed that they want me off the books, the option that is being offered to me is to become self-employed and continue in the same position. Unfortunately there are no guarantees being offered relating to duration of any future contract. (My guess would be at worst 2 months and at best 4 years)

My understanding is that being self employed I would pay S class PRSI which would not provide Job seekers benefit should the contract end.

If anybody has any thoughts on this or experience of similar situations I would appreciate to hear from them.

whatnext

There are mechanisms that can facilitate full payment of PRSI through some of the "umbrella companies".

Not really sure how it works, but it can be done.

I'd recommend having a chat with one of them as first course of action

LegacyUser

I would not be happy to do this.
They will not be paying your stamp which will effect your ability to get the dole.
Also the number of stamps you pay when working goes towards which state pension you are entitled to when you get to retirement age.

They want you to do this because they won't have to pay redundancy if they let you go.
Under the law once you have worked continuously for your employer for at least 104 weeks over the age of 16 you are entitled to redundancy.
I would read through the redundancy section of www.welfare.ie so you are aware of the laws in regards to redundancy.

I know that people who are self employed set up "umbrella companies".
At the moment revenue are looking closely at self employed people who are using "umbrella companies". If revenue see that you are only working for one company for x period of time they may start to ask you questions.

I would think long and hard about doing this for the above reasons. I would speak to qualified accountant to get more information on setting up an "umbrella company".
You need to find out the cost, what paper work you need to fill out, what you need to keep for revenue reasons and how long you need to keep this paper work. I would also find out how often you need to pay your tax, prsi, usc ect.
You need to be earning a high income to make this worth while to do.

If your employer mentions this again I would just say I need time to think about this.
I would speak to your union rep and let them know what your employer is trying to get you to do and get there advice on this.

ScottStorm

Many thanks, I will research these companies this evening.
Does anybody have any further information on this?

Mrs OBumble

Just search for "umbrella company" in the Work and Jobs forum.

the_syco

ScottStorm wrote: »

I am a contract employee

fab lady wrote: »

They want you to do this because they won't have to pay redundancy if they let you go.

Can a "contract employee" get redundancy? Not fully sure what the term "contract employee" refers to