Osborne’s Autumn Statement cast an early spotlight on what is expected to be another year of legislative change within the professional contracting sector. The flexibility of this sector – in every sense – is probably the only thing that remains constant! Although Osborne did not directly reference the recruitment industry, tax avoidance is high on the government’s agenda and the ‘buzz’ emanating from the media and Westminster suggest that even without a mention, the recruitment industry will be under close scrutiny in the year to come.
The evidence of this intent is no better demonstrated by the HMRC’s plans to investigate offshore payroll companies and the publication of the Onshore Employment Intermediaries: False Employment consultation document that came on the heels of the Autumn Statement. While we welcome any determined agenda to stamp out rogue operators, we will reserve judgment until we know exactly how the Government is to tighten the rules, before commenting on the effectiveness of these good intentions. What we will say is that more needs to be done to separate the good guys from the bad guys in our world of commercial contracting. Pressure needs to be applied to companies that offer marginal products such as travel and subsistence schemes for workers at or around National Minimum Wage rate levels. Or those that misappropriate expense claims under cover of HMRC dispensation.
2014 needs to be the year that the playing fields are levelled in terms of compliance and that all contractors are assured that they are receiving the highest quality professional employment service.
Apart from these ‘taxing’ issues, there are a number of other items in the legal timetable that we think all our agencies and contractors should be aware of:
- Early conciliation will come into force in April 2014. ACAS will need to be notified for all claims before they are lodged to the Tribunal. If conciliation is unsuccessful within the set period, the claimant can proceed to lodge a tribunal claim
- The date for the annual index-linked change to the compensatory award limits for Employment Tribunal claims will move from 1st February to 6th April
- The Government has proposed that as of spring 2014, the right to request flexible working be extended to all employees
- Spring should also see further amendments to the Equality Act 2010 that will remove the questionnaire procedure that allows a claimant who has issued a discrimination claim to gather information from the employer that can be used as evidence at the full merits hearing. It has also been proposed that powers be given to Employment Tribunals to order an employer to conduct an equal pay audit in circumstances where it is clear that it has breached the equal pay provision as set out in the Equality Act 2010
- More and more employers will be affected by the auto-enrolment provisions that came into effect in October 2012. Employers with between 350 and 499 employees will be expected to comply and offer a qualifying pension scheme to their staff by the start of 2014. Employers with 58 or more employees will be affected by the start of 2015.
