Problem with work contract, not sure what to do

Sounds like how my daughter's music lessons work. I wanted a 20 minute group lesson but she was the only person who wanted to play that instrument. So she got a ten-minute individual lesson instead (I can't remember if I pay more).

Unfortunately, tutoring seems to be rife with these questionable working arrangements. For example, I work for a company that allocates me work as an online assessor (marking work), provides an invoice showing what I have worked, expects the work to be completed within a set time frame, monitors my work and issues mandatory training for the work. However, I pay my own tax (as self employed), I am not paid for holidays or sickness, and the work is insecure (no guarantee of allocations and allocations can be stopped with no notice and for no given reason.)

Like all workers in the 'gig' economy, I know I am being exploited, but I need the extra money (this is not my only job). Again, unfortunately, employers who adopt these arrangements, often depend on people who for one reason or another are vulnerable (perhaps they are carers and need flexibility in their work load, for example.) The situation is also often complex with the private company winning contracts with local authorities or colleges, showing the glowing CVs of their 'freelance' staff, and then cracking the whip for the freelancers to work for a rate of pay that is well below the standard rate, and in no way reflects the freelancers' qualifications or experience.

My advice OP would be to get out of this role as soon as possible. Look for other positions or perhaps set yourself up as a private tutor and see how that goes. I believe there is a 'Tutor' forum on Mumsnet that could advise you about how to take the first steps towards having your own business.

Can You not offer your services to the parent directly as you are self employed?

This company is taking the absolute P*. LEAVE THEM! If you are self employed then you set the hours, the rates, when you work and where you work. You also have to sort all your own stuff. If you are not self-employed, you are an employee, the company sort your tax, NI contribution, finding the work, your rates, your hours, and your work plan and take a cut of your pay. This company are taking everything the deserve as employers, and doing none of what they should do as a company. If they want you to have a contract with stipulations, then there have to be benefits.

IR35 only applies if OP delivers tuition through her own limited company, not through being self employed on her own account.

As it is council run, the tutoring bit doesn’t have the power to alter contracts. If you contact the council about this directly you are told to contact the tutoring department.
If you want to go nuclear then speak to HMRC and they will set their rottweilers on it. Or you could always threaten to do this and see if that gets the agency's attention.
Obviously, though, this will not help cordial relations.

@Trifletrifle have sent you a PM

Hi @Trifletrifle Have you checked your status under IR35? There's some good, useful advice here (plus a questionnaire): https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax

I co-own a small business that uses self-employed contractors and have had to go through this for all of them - you can keep the results as evidence to show HMRC if they question your status.

I am absolutely no expert, but from what they are saying, that you can't work for others, and that they dictate when you work, might have an impact on your IR35 status. Definitely check this out - speak with your accountant (if you have one).

Hope you get it sorted.

There are lots of agencies operating this way.

The schools turn a blind eye to this sort of operation.

What happens if a child is off sick?

@Aprilx is absolutely correct in everything she says.

@Trifletrifle are you a music teacher? I ask because DD’s music teacher is having an almost identical issue with her council-run tutoring organisation. I work in HR and this really does have quite big implications, some of which have already been tested and proved incorrect in an employment tribunal.

@Trifletrifle others are correct - anyone can say they are self employed, but what determines whether you are self employed in reality and what HMRC are interested in for tax purposes is the nature of how you are directed in your work.

You are saying things about your contract and the type of work that you do that is raising concerns about whether this is legitimate self employment, or if the tutoring company are trying to pull a fast one regarding their responsibilities.

And it can most definitely be ambiguous and there have been very many legal battles over employed vs self employed status, some very well known, Pimlico Plumbers was a big one, lots of gig economy related cases, have a google.
YY. See also Uber.

No no no. Anybody can register as self employed with HMRC, they don’t check the nature of the engagement, that is for the individual / employer to ascertain.

That you have bought insurance and paid for your own DBS doesn’t make you self employed either, again you have got things back to front. The only thing that determines your employed / self employed status, is the nature of the contract for services.

And it can most definitely be ambiguous and there have been very many legal battles over employed vs self employed status, some very well known, Pimlico Plumbers was a big one, lots of gig economy related cases, have a google.

I am registered with HMRC as self employed and have a self employment number which needs to be included on my invoices to be paid. I therefore don’t think there is any ambiguity surrounding my self employed status.
It is possible to be self-employed (in one job) and employed (in another job) at the same time. And HMRC will decide if you are SE / employed based on the facts: if they are not aware of the facts then they will go with your / the agency's version of events until the shit hits some fan somewhere.

PS. Did I read the OP right? - that the council have set up this agency, that the council are charging parents to make good the insufficiencies in their schools.

HMRC will issue anyone a self assessment tax return etc - they don't immediately look into the details. It's only if they open an enquiry that they'd get enough information to decide either way (this would impact on the the other party, not you. HMRC generally gross up, assuming what you paid is net, and the employer pay the missing PAYE and NI and penalty)

If I were you, I would talk to ACAS to get some advice

Yes I understand. I should have said 'minimum wage'

You are self employed. I am self employed. I set my own fees, hours,pay my own NU and tax etc. My clients are given a bill at the end if the month and they pay it. They're taking the mickey. Start putting your foot down and if they want to call the shots then they can employ you and pay your contributions as well as holiday pay and sick pay!

YANBU
It doesn’t sound worth it for such short sessions and travelling between schools.

I have a similar job (my second job) but each pupil is an hour and I get paid my mileage back. It is zero hours but I they add on accrued holiday pay. I wouldn’t bother if it was shorter than an hour per school!

If it’s adding to your reputation and that will help you in the short term then that’s the only reason to put up with it for now but I wouldn’t worry about annoying parents or the council as I bet they were just glad you were putting up with the ten min pay for one pupil.

No you are not self employed “because you are paid by the hour and pay your own NI”. That is the tail wagging the dog. Whether you are employed or self employed depends on the nature of the engagement not how you are paid. And then once the nature of the engagement has been determined, that drives how you should be paid, not the other way around. You need to be very clear in your own mind about this in order to argue your case clearly.

Contact is as good a word as any for the person you deal with. Definitely not manager. And no, whilst the organisation wishes to treat this as self employment, they cannot tell you that you cannot take other jobs. I wouldn’t say this is always the case, a big company might choose not to engage with a particular third party for a particular service if they know the third party also works with their great rival and they want to ensure trade secrets are not leaked, but that is a choice, they cannot mandate it and I cannot see any way in which that could apply to you.

Frankly this tutoring company are taking the absolute piss. They expect you to act like their employee whilst simultaneously refusing to grant you the benefits of being an employee. You need to tell them they can’t have it both ways. This could be self employment, but if it is, you get to set your pay rates which they can choose to accept or not, you choose which jobs to accept and you can do whatever you wish in your spare time including accepting other contracts.

If your hours are dictated by the tutor group you are not se. Surely if you deliver 20 minutes to one student , on a "group" basis the minimum you get paid is 20 minutes. Tbh I'm surprised such short sessions are even viable for you to take.

Sounds like you are an agency worker rather than self employed.

Yes, another step would be reporting them for false self-employment.

I would also talk to the council and other tutors if you can, join a teaching union and challenge them on it. They may even be committing fraud and accepting public money for 20 minutes per student but paying ten. It just stinks to high heaven to me anyway.

Why has the parent been allowed to book into a group session with only one? Surely the tutoring company should have informed them that as they were the only person the only way to proceed is if they paid one on one, not just let them proceed with a group booking.

how do the parents book? Is it through you or the company? If it’s the company you should be having to ‘explain’ anything to the parents and they should be dealing with this directly.

you probably should have nipped this in the bud straight away, I feel a bit sorry for the student, but the tutoring company need to know they can’t take advantage of you in this way, so you’ve done the right thing.