If you feel as a contractor there’s no one speaking for you, that could change soon thanks to the efforts of two industry trade bodies.
Both the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and the Professional Contractors’ Group has drawn attention to the issues important to freelancers, umbrella company contractors, and other sole traders. Both organisations have been hard at work to showcase just how much interim workers contribute to the UK economic recovery efforts whilst also campaigning to preserve flexible workspaces in order to preserve the country’s ability to compete on a global basis.
Liam Byrne, shadow work and pensions secretary, was present at a recent discussion hosted by both industry bodies where the myriad contributions to the British economy were discussed in detail. Hopefully Mr Byrne was listening very intently and took copious notes back with him to Westminster, as the British freelance worker could most definitely use some more support from the Government if you ask me.
I mean let’s just examine the issue a bit, shall we? Contract workers have been getting the wrong end of the stick recently, especially with the Government’s new-found zeal in rooting out tax avoidance schemes that make use of employees abusing tax rules by masquerading as a contract worker. Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs has been going after anyone and everyone they can, but primarily have been targeting sole practitioners such as freelancers and contract workers in its effort to squeeze every last penny out of hard-working contractors, and for what it’s worth I’m absolutely sick of it.
Hopefully this recent conference has made a difference and the state of the Government will shift a bit towards being more sympathetic to the hard-working men and women of the freelancing community. I mean we just contribute directly to the UK’s economic recovery by keeping small businesses firing on all cylinders in an economy that precludes them from spending valuable funds on a full-time permanent employee, so I think we should be given some recognition for once – and some reward would be even better!
I’m not asking for much. Getting the taxman off my back would be enough for me, really; why can’t HMRC go after big businesses and leave us little guys alone for a change? Doesn’t Starbucks owe something like billions of pounds in unpaid corporate taxes? The Government needs to listen to the REC and PCG and get its act together, in a hurry!
