To think 'employer' cannot change my pay terms whilst pregnant?

[Work999]

Complicated by the fact that I'm 'self employed' working for a larger company.
They book all work appointments for me through their software, I have to then attend all appointments on their behalf, pitch their service to a pretty exacting script in a way they train us and then follow their very strict process for follow up and further contact and to provide the service the way they tell us.

I am paid on a commission structure whereby we were offered 3months of 'guaranteed' commission when we start and then after that would just be paid the commission we earned per service sold. 3 months passed and they weren't supplying near enough business to make it a sustainable business and so they extended the 3 months to 'ongoing' until the business was self sufficient. It's now 2 years later.

I notified them of my pregnancy and 13 weeks later they made a company wide new policy surrounding 'financial support' and the continued guaranteed commission is now only given monthly if certain targets (which are beyond unrealistic) are met. Last month I worked 60 hours a week and travelled sometimes hundreds of miles a day on their behalf and they are now only willing to pay my basic commission of a few hundred £.

Are they able to change the terms of my financial income after I notified them of my pregnancy?

This has also meant that the maternity cover I had arranged is now unwilling to cover my work whilst I am off because of too much uncertainty around income. They had originally offered the maternity cover in a continuation of my 'ongoing' guaranteed commission.

Any help on this would be much appreciated!

Can you turn down work? Can you send someone in your place? My initial thoughts are that you're not self employed, you're an employee paid on a commission basis. They can change terms if it's not just yours being changed but I think the bigger issue is your employer status

Well, to answer your question I suspect a company is entitled to change their commission payment structure for everyone if they provide notice (I presume they have changed it for everyone not just you?) depending on what a contract says.

However, on the basis of what you've written, you're not self employed. If you were, it would be up to you as to whether you took each booking etc, and you would have arranged fees.

Yes they can change terms (as long as they’re not unfairly targeting you because you are pregnant), but as PP said it really doesn’t sound as though you would be classed as self employed here. I’d probably look as getting some legal advice around that.

Ive always said that I'm employed on a self employed basis, but I'm just one small person and don't know where to start approaching that legally. It's a huge company with over 1,000 of us in the same boat.

No I can't turn down work, I can't send someone in my place unless that person has been approved by the company and been through a rigorous training course and is fully compliant in the field and also complaint with company regulations, I can set my own hours but am 'told off' (for lack of better words) if I don't have enough available appointments, provide my own car and travel..etc. I get no sick pay, holiday, maternity.

You’re not self employed. They’re acting illegally.

You don’t sound self-employed to me either. I’d suggest a chat with an employment solicitor to understand the full picture as I suspect your situation is quite nuanced.

As others have said you don't really sound like you are self employed - the best way is to check this here:

www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-employment-status-for-tax/setup

They are entitled to change your commission structure if they given enough notice they are doing so. If they have given you 13 weeks notice it does sound like they have varied your contract but that they have given sufficient notice to do this - did they issue you with a letter or something similar 13 weeks ago?
If this affects you only & it was done just after you announced your pregnancy then it could be discrimination - if it affects lots of people & the timing just happened to coincide with your pregnancy then that is perfectly legal.

Thank you so much. I've done the HMRC employment status online checker several times, as have many colleagues and it says from the input that it is unclear and unable to specify the employment status.

I'm looking into local solicitors for employment law and looking at making an appointment.

They're such a big company it's a big worry as to why no one else has already done this (that I know of) or what they could do in retaliation. They will have a huge legal department and I'm just meZ

You are employed and presumably they aren’t giving you any kind of maternity pay?
You really need to fight this, I don’t think that employers HAVE to give any enhanced maternity benefits but you have other rights
If you ask for this to be moved to Employment one of the experts on there might be able to give better advice
I would put money on HMRC considering you employed though

Hi there all,

We're moving this to employment at OP's request.

No maternity pay, I've applied for maternity allowance as a self employed person instead.

Are PAYE and NI deducted before they pay you?

No they make no deductions. I invoice them through the ltd company I had to set up to start working for them and pay my own tax through HMRC direct.

I feel like I’ve seen this very similar situation lately on here (minus the maternity issue). I’ll see if I can figure d the thread, OP.

You are definitely employed. Do you have a written contract? What does it say about pay and commission? Your employer cannot change this without your agreement, even giving you notice they are in breach of contract. Speak to ACAS.

Thanks @NoSquirrels it's possibly the same company - they're massive and a lot of disgruntled 'employees' this month. I wouldn't be surprised.

@MumUndone the original written business 'agreement' (not contract of employment) only references the commission structure per unit/services provided and then that the guaranteed commission for 3 months but this has been continued to be paid for years until now.

Are you part of a union? They can negotiate this on your behalf and possibly get a better outcome representing a large group of freelancers than you individually trying.

You can't be "employed as self-employed", that's a contradiction in terms.

There are lots of ways to test your legal status and they are mostly about flexibility - do you have the right not to work if you don't want to, can you pick and choose what you do, can you take time off when you want to, set your own rates etc. I personally think the rule about substituting someone else to go in your place isn't very relevant to many people as it's fine for clients to want to deal with one particular person and that doesn't automatically make them a worker or an employee.

I think the pregnancy is a red herring here - the true issue is that the company are asking people to set up limited companies and invoice to get around their employer responsibilities.

Shop them to HMRC.

Have you got legal insurance on your home insurance or car insurance, through a bank account or union or similar?

If so then approach them flirts for help, not least because it’s free (well, you’ve already paid for it and using the service doesn’t usually affect your premiums).

They are entitled to change your commission structure if they given enough notice they are doing so. If they have given you 13 weeks notice it does sound like they have varied your contract but that they have given sufficient notice to do this - did they issue you with a letter or something similar 13 weeks ago?

It would depend on what the contract said. It may be zero notice as the company may have built that into the contract. This isn't employment law- it is a contract for services.