Problem with work contract, not sure what to do

[Trifletrifle]

I’ve recently joined a tutoring group run by our local council. It’s on a self employed basis and I get termly contract with offers for work. I go into local schools to tutor children in my specific subject and parents pay the tutoring group who then pay me an hourly rate. Parents choose to either pay for 1-1 sessions or group sessions (with 2 or 3 children). Most parents pay for group sessions as it’s much cheaper for the parent.

At one of my schools, only one student has signed up for group tuition. Sessions need to be 20 minutes as per my contract. I have been delivering 20 minute sessions weekly, however, my contract stipulates it works on a ratio basis of 10 minutes per student. E.g if I see two students I claim 20 minutes, if I see 3 students it’s 30 minutes. I am allowed to see up to 3 students per 20 minute sessions.

I have recently discovered that the tutoring company will only pay me for 10 minutes for this session, despite delivering 20 minutes (my contract states each session must not be less than 20 minutes).

I have questioned this and have been told the expectation is for me to ‘increase my time’ or persuade the parent to pay for 1-1 sessions (which is twice the price for them). This particular school is in a deprived area and the parent cannot afford to pay the 1-1 fee and despite my efforts I have not been able to increase my time.

The tutor company have sent me a screenshot of the part of my contract which states I will receive 10 minutes pay per student, but have apologised for the ambiguity as each session must be minimum of 20 minutes.

As I am self employed I get no ‘perks’ which I accept, but this seems wrong to me so I messaged my line manager to say it’s not worth me travelling for this appointment to only be paid for 10 minutes but working for 20 minutes, and therefore won’t be continuing to see this student next term in the New Year. Manager has told me to explain the situation to the parent which I have. Parent has now made a complaint to the tutoring company stating how upset she is that her daughter has to discontinue lessons with me as she was making so much progress and was really enjoying her lessons with me.

I guess I am looking for advice as I really enjoy my job but this has soured things a bit for me and I am feeling awkward and feel my manager is really cross with me.

Any advice moving forward please?

Asking them to pay you properly for the work would be the first step.

This is your managers issue to sort. Will it put you below minimum hourly rate if they stick to their guns?

You could contact Acas and ask their opinion. The Tutoring Company definitely need to re word their contracts.

I hope this doesn’t come across as pedantic, because I know it might sound that way, but I think it is really important.

You refer to this work as your job and you are referring to somebody as your manager and yet you say you are self employed. Those things are mutually exclusive.

So on the basis that you are paid as if self employed, then you need to stop referring to this person as a manager. You are your own manager, you do not have a job, you are self employed and if a piece of work doesn’t make sense to you then you can decline it, just as a plumber might decline a particular job.

So stand your ground and ignore any “compliant” because you are a third party, you are not part of the organisation that this parent has complained to. It is for them to resolve and if they don’t want to buy in your services that is their problem not yours.

I agree, this doesn’t sound like self employment. Do you have other work besides this?

I mean I would say it is perfectly possible for tutoring to be carried out on a self employed basis. But if that is how the Tutoring Company wants to do it, then they have no right to refer to anybody as being OP’s “manager” and no no right to tell her off for not taking work that doesn’t pay.

If they want to run the relationship like that, they they need to pay as a worker or employee.

I am self employed as in I am paid by the hour, pay my own tax / NI, receive no holiday, sick pay or pension. Yes sorry you’re right, this person is not really my manager, just not sure what to call them. Basically my contact at the company who offers me work and who I contact with any issues. I work independently (for myself) and for this company. It also states in my contract that I am not allowed to work for any other business seen to be a competitor- however, I find this confusing as I thought being self employed means you can work for who you want.

Also I don’t really want to ruffle any feathers as this is run by the local council who have good relationships with many schools who are more than happy to use their tutors. I have found that approaching schools as an independent individual virtually impossible, but if I say I am from ‘name of tutoring company’ I am welcomed as they are well known with a good reputation, therefore it is a more significant guarantee of work.

NMW doesn’t apply to self employed workers.

If you can’t work for anybody else, then you are not self employed

You could say that this oversight/loophole amounts to an unfair contract term. Frame it that obviously they just hadn't realised that only one student being in the class would be a possibility. Ask them to amend the contract to pay you minimum 20mins regardless of class numbers.

Is there a way you can cancel/refuse to do the class?

That’s what I thought

They won’t change the contract and I have informed them I will not be continuing with this class next term. My issue is this has seemed to piss them off and I feel awkward about it and I am sure they now see me as a pain in the arse.

I would contact HMRC about the contract re: self employment

That doesn't sound right to me to say you can't work for anyone in a similar field

The way you are paid (I.e no sick pay etc) doesn't make you self employed. The way you work makes you employed/ self employed and then the payment method follows on from that.

There are indicators of self employment that HMRC consider - they have an online form that you can complete to get a good indication of which you are.

It seems that I am self employed to suit them as in it’s much cheaper for them not to pay sick pay, holiday pay, expenses or pension. However, it seems they want me to behave / work as an employed person. Just feel a bit confused as I really like my job but don’t feel comfortable with this arrangement/ contract

That's absolutely shocking.
I'd expect minimum of one hour of your rate for going to a school. Good tutors are hard to come by. If they can't offer you that go elsewhere. It's not worth your while

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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