Two surveys have highlighted continuing fears among freelancers about the changes to the IR35 rules due to take effect in April. The reforms will shift the responsibility for defining contractors’ tax status from the individual to the employer to crack down on so-called ‘disguised employment’, where off-payroll workers are able to pay less tax than employees. However, concerns have been raised that the rules could force organisations to bring genuine contractors and freelancers on to the payroll, reducing flexibility for both parties. (more…)

More than one in ten (12 percent) so-called gig workers in the UK are working multiple roles and consider temporary work as their main role, taking advantage of improved work-life balance, greater variety of work and the ability to see more of their families, according to a new report. The research, carried out by Reed Specialist Recruitment, for its Temporary isn’t Temporary campaign, surveyed 5,000 workers and looked at their experience of, and attitude to, temporary and multiple career roles.

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Employers aren’t doing enough to help their employees to work flexibly, according to a survey by Tiger Recruitment, which has found that a third of UK workers questioned (32 percent) aren’t happy with the flexible working options available to them. The study of over 2,000 employees claims that only a third have the option of home or remote working – a seven percentage point drop since last year – while only one in five (22 percent) are offered the option of flexi-time, and even fewer have access to informal flexibility (19 percent) or the opportunity to go part-time (18 percent). (more…)