Employed or Self-employed? New fact sheet

There is a new fact sheet for workers on the issue of employment and self-employment. The guidance highlights key issues and special circumstances. Workers are reminded that employment status is a question of fact rather than choice.

The leaflet can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/es-fs1.pdf

There are specific issues for certain groups of individuals. For example, you can be an employee if you work for a relative in their business; but family members working in a domestic context such as a carer or cook etc are not employees.
(See http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/esmmanual/esm4156.htm). Unrelated individuals who work in a domestic context can be employees (or self-employed). The dividing line here can be difficult to draw, but working set hours on a fixed rate exclusively for one person as, for example a cleaner, with the householder providing all material would seem like employment. On the other hand, a cleaner who worked for 5 or 6 different people might be more likely to be self-employed.

Individuals working as office cleaners, by contrast, will normally be employees (see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/esmmanual/esm4018.htm).

A full list of other ‘special cases’ can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employment-status/index.htm#3