Employer wants me to be self employed

Son

Hi

I recently applied for a job and got a reply back from the employer giving some details about the job, in that they mentioned that 'all technicians must be self employed'.

I'm not sure what the pro's and con's of this are can anyone tell me or give me a helpful link?

They pay 350 a week then the rest of my income would depend on how many call outs I do, they pay me a % of the cost of that job

Also they mentioned that they supply a van, tooling and any equipment needed to do the job, they pay for fuel, servicing, cvrt etc the only thing I need to pay for is business insurance and comprehensive insurance.

Does this sound legit or not?

Mrs OBumble

Do you control the hours you work, and how many jobs you get? Can you take on other jobs independently of them?

It may be dodgy. Or it may be a legitimate way to get into a franchise, with low setup costs for you.

It means that you’d have zero rights when it all goes belly up. That’s the whole point of it.

Its legit. They are employing you as an independent contractor which is not a negative per se. Plenty of people/businesses do it and there are advantages/disadvantages for both employee & employer.

Some links with additional info

https://www.osk.ie/site/assets/files/1441/guide_to_contracting.pdf
https://www.legal-island.ie/articles/ire/features/hr/2019/june/what-are-the-differences-in-employee-v-contractor/
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/types_of_employment/self_employment/self_employment_as_an_individual.html

If you are still unsure, talk to an accountant

The % you expect to make will be important as you will have costs that an employee would not have, so if the total take home is not sufficient it may not make not make financial sense. You also have to be careful with your money as you'll be looking after your own tax, you won't qualify for sick pay or holiday pay etc.

T900i

It wouldn't be a wasted call to ring citizens advice and run through it with them they are a great one stop shop of knowledge

You have no holiday pay, sick pay and will also have to pay a estimated amount of your earnings for your personal tax liabilites in advance each year. Also as a good estimate on your wages each week 1/3 should be set aside to cover your personal tax liabilities.

These types of employment opportunities have become more common in the trades in recent years where people used to be sole traders and purely worked for themselves and looked for their own contracts. The advantage here is the company have the contracts and sub contract to you.

Best of luck with what ever decision you make

Son

Thanks for replies, pretty much confirmed my thoughts

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Do you control the hours you work, and how many jobs you get? Can you take on other jobs independently of them?

It may be dodgy. Or it may be a legitimate way to get into a franchise, with low setup costs for you.

I asked them in a reply email but they didn't get back to me, must have scared them off

Don't think I'd have control as they delegate the work and on call in a sign written van so doubt I could take on other work using their equipment.

Tnks