Work colleagues

[thistledo]

Started a new contract and during meetings or just one to one calls everyone is on camera more or less all of the time. I find this a bit odd. 

[die hard doonhamer]

27 minutes ago, thistledo said:

Started a new contract and during meetings or just one to one calls everyone is on camera more or less all of the time. I find this a bit odd. 

I started a new job in October and it’s like this. I love it. At my last place I was one of the few that used their camera regularly. It’s much easier to get to know people properly when you can actually see them when you’re talking. 

[thistledo]

17 minutes ago, die hard doonhamer said:

I started a new job in October and it’s like this. I love it. At my last place I was one of the few that used their camera regularly. It’s much easier to get to know people properly when you can actually see them when you’re talking. 

See I like it for meetings when it's a group, but every call even if you've just spoken to the person seems to be a video call, feels a bit awkward at times.

 

[BFTD]

9 hours ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

Good grief.....what is going on here ??  oaksoft going all Vicar of Dibley gives me the fear.......................

He's always been more into hating entire groups, rather than individuals.

[strichener]

On 12/12/2021 at 12:25, IrishBhoy said:

There was supposed to be a regulatory body set up when IR35 was meant to start in 2020, the government had an extra year and still haven’t done it. I believe there is something going through the courts at the minute querying wether the umbrella companies are correct in taking employers NI from our wages. If that goes in the workers favour they will have millions of pounds needing to be repaid. Can see a lot of the umbrella companies going bust if that does happen, and the money funnelled away into the directors pockets. 

IR 35 started 20 years ago.  The change now implemented is that the employing companies are liable now as well as the contractor.

As someone who has genuinely contracted in the past, I see no issue with clamping down on disguised employment.

Edited December 18, 2021 by strichener

[IrishBhoy]

9 hours ago, strichener said:

IR 35 started 20 years ago.  The change now implemented is that the employing companies are liable now as well as the contractor.

As someone who has genuinely contracted in the past, I see no issue with clamping down on disguised employment.

Aye I did hear that. Gordon Browns government that brought it in I believe. I’ve been contracting for the past 6 years roughly, so 5 years pre-IR35. The problem is that there is so many loopholes to exploit (and accountants more than willing to exploit them), you would look silly if you were sitting there paying full tax when everyone else is legally getting away with paying a fraction. 

Im no longer with an accountant but the one I used came with the recommendation ‘every dodgy c**t in Glasgow uses this guy’. When my first corporation tax bill came round I went and had a meeting with him. I won’t post on here what I earned in that period, but the figure he presented to me was about 6 grand less than what it should have been. 

With regards to disguised employment, that has never applied to me as it’s short to mid term contracts I work on. The company I am contracted to are using me and 20 odd other contractors for a project which will end on on unspecified date, probably in the coming months. The company can’t just start 25 full time employees, train them, supply them with tooling etc. for 12-18 months of work and then make them redundant. Contractors bring ready experience, fund all their own training and can be punted at the drop of a hat should a project go tits up. I know we receive a higher rate but IR35 has severely negated that benefit. Im not complaining too much tbh, I do enjoy contracting and it still makes sense for me to keep doing it, both personally and financially. 

[tamthebam]

16 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

Aye I did hear that. Gordon Browns government that brought it in I believe. I’ve been contracting for the past 6 years roughly, so 5 years pre-IR35. The problem is that there is so many loopholes to exploit (and accountants more than willing to exploit them), you would look silly if you were sitting there paying full tax when everyone else is legally getting away with paying a fraction. 

Im no longer with an accountant but the one I used came with the recommendation ‘every dodgy c**t in Glasgow and Rangers use this guy’. 

That's better...

[Thorongil]

13 hours ago, IrishBhoy said:

Aye I did hear that. Gordon Browns government that brought it in I believe. I’ve been contracting for the past 6 years roughly, so 5 years pre-IR35. The problem is that there is so many loopholes to exploit (and accountants more than willing to exploit them), you would look silly if you were sitting there paying full tax when everyone else is legally getting away with paying a fraction. 

Im no longer with an accountant but the one I used came with the recommendation ‘every dodgy c**t in Glasgow uses this guy’. When my first corporation tax bill came round I went and had a meeting with him. I won’t post on here what I earned in that period, but the figure he presented to me was about 6 grand less than what it should have been. 

With regards to disguised employment, that has never applied to me as it’s short to mid term contracts I work on. The company I am contracted to are using me and 20 odd other contractors for a project which will end on on unspecified date, probably in the coming months. The company can’t just start 25 full time employees, train them, supply them with tooling etc. for 12-18 months of work and then make them redundant. Contractors bring ready experience, fund all their own training and can be punted at the drop of a hat should a project go tits up. I know we receive a higher rate but IR35 has severely negated that benefit. Im not complaining too much tbh, I do enjoy contracting and it still makes sense for me to keep doing it, both personally and financially. 

There aren’t any loopholes any more. An assignment is legitimately outside the scope of the rules or it isn’t. Those who kid themselves on are taking a huge risk, including any dodgy accountant daft enough to risk it.

I’ve assessed several hundred cases on behalf of end users and have found the IR35 regulations to apply in 98.4% of cases. 

have faced challenges and appeals from individuals. involving further review by lawyers, accountants and chartered tax advisers. Not one appeal has been upheld.

[Thorongil]

I would personally love to see lots of recruitment agencies prosecuted for the absolute junk garbage advice they’ve been giving out. Advice they have no right to give. They’ve turned it into a cottage industry.

That whole sector is badly in need of regulation.

[Thorongil]

15 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

It was Tony Blair's government who brought in IR35, not Gordon Brown and it came in around the turn of the millenium.

As for that bit in bold and underlined, you need to take some proper advice regarding IR35 because you are seriously misleading yourself here. If I remember correctly, anything longer than 4 weeks can be found to be inside IR35 but they may have tightened that.

If you are investigated and found to be inside IR35, HRMC are likely to go back through all of your contracts since you started up and will attempt to clean you out so I hope you've either taken professional advice or kept that money somewhere and not spent it. Your comment about contract length convinces me you're vulnerable here.

Completely agree. 

[beefybake]

On 12/12/2021 at 14:52, Thorongil said:

Contractors aren’t in any way cheaper. In IT particularly the cost circa double. FTCs are an option companies sometimes use but workers largely don’t want that. They want the security and benefits that come with a perm job or the extra pay that comes with being a contractor.

The higher up the salary range the more expensive a contractor becomes. You could have a perm project manager on say £65k per annum. For a contractor you’re looking at £500 per day which is £115k. That’s much more expensive than having an employee, but you might only need them for a year. 
 

At the lowest end of the scale, the AWR regulations come into play, and there is agency margin as well as the cost of NI and holiday pay built into the charge rate.

there are a few different categories to consider. Agency temp, contractor, consultant and freelancer. All have their differences but none of them are cheaper than hiring employees.

Quite close, at least for me long ago.

I worked for the MOD, and then a large UK computer manufacturer in the late '70's.

From there, I did 12 years contracting through to 1991.

Initial rate on my first contract was £200 a week.  Approximately double my salary at the company ( ICL, now Fujitsu ).

Final contract in 1991, my rate was about £1030 a week, just under £2300 in today's money.

The best contracts were the foreign jobs, where I could arrange my housing near to the client base.  UK contracts entailed

lots of driving from home to work, typically 800 to 1000 miles a week.

The life is OK if you're single. In the end I got tired of leaving home in the dark on a winter's morning, driving a long way, getting

home in the dark, and generally feeling so knackered that weekends were just for recovering, not living.

( I never owned a Ferrari. Did, though, manage a Porsche 911, and sundry others ).

 

Why did I go freelance ?  Yes, the money was attractive.  However, I wasn't particularly enjoying my job, and I had little taste for going into

management, or being involved in office politics. So, doubling my pay to be free of that, and just get on with doing technical stuff pressed

my buttons. 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by beefybake

[Nkomo-A-Gogo]

Small potatoes to all you contractors, off shorers, oaksofts etc but back in the summer i politely handed back my hazchem licence due to differences and was told that i couldnt have a raise but on a day where i had a haz job i could put in for an enhanced meal allowance which basically meant an extra 20 euro taxfree 2 or 3 times a week.

The only other haz driver tried the same just before christmas and got offered heehaw so now im getting all haz jobs and extra 100 every week for no extra work! 

[SlipperyP]

Hello, I'm here.

My boss is great, my gaffer is ok. BUT, I work with about 20 others on the same level.

It's a shamash of older and younger (which is very important in Thai working society).

I've notice over the few days working (full time) the lads are a bunch of arseholes, not even a 'alright' or nod.

While all the woman are as pleasant and helpful. 

Why? Good looks (I think not). Charm (maybe) wresting the work dog to submission (yes).   

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, SlipperyP said:

Hello, I'm here.

My boss is great, my gaffer is ok. BUT, I work with about 20 others on the same level.

It's a shamash of older and younger (which is very important in Thai working society).

I've notice over the few days working (full time) the lads are a bunch of arseholes, not even a 'alright' or nod.

While all the woman are as pleasant and helpful. 

Why? Good looks (I think not). Charm (maybe) wresting the work dog to submission (yes).   

Do the blokes read P&B maybe?

Only joking.  Maybe its a racisty thing.  Where we both are they are still a bit behind the times in terms of such modern fangled concepts.

[SlipperyP]

6 hours ago, hk blues said:

Do the blokes read P&B maybe?

Only joking.  Maybe its a racisty thing.  Where we both are they are still a bit behind the times in terms of such modern fangled concepts.

Yes and no, racisty as you say. I'll put as more ignorance bracket . The boys seem ok individually, however at lunch (brake times) they scrum up. I was just brushed off when starting to speak to them.  Fine with me I just sit with the girls (win win).

Maybe the Forfar patter didn't go good, when they ask me what football team I support 

[supermik]

[BFTD]

I may have mentioned it at the time, but last year one of my former colleagues was arrested and allowed to resign after getting up to some very deviant shit involving cameras and fitting rooms. Just heard that another co-worker has been sentenced to two years at Her Majesty's pleasure for being a dirty pervert, including "inappropriate behaviour" with vulnerable persons.

Starting to think this is a Yewtree-type situation, and that the net is closing in. Can I hide out at your bit, P&B?

[parsforlife]

9 minutes ago, BFTD said:

I may have mentioned it at the time, but last year one of my former colleagues was arrested and allowed to resign after getting up to some very deviant shit involving cameras and fitting rooms. Just heard that another co-worker has been sentenced to two years at Her Majesty's pleasure for being a dirty pervert, including "inappropriate behaviour" with vulnerable persons.

Starting to think this is a Yewtree-type situation, and that the net is closing in. Can I hide out at your bit, P&B?

No.  Cheerio BEAST

[Mark Connolly]

12 minutes ago, BFTD said:

I may have mentioned it at the time, but last year one of my former colleagues was arrested and allowed to resign after getting up to some very deviant shit involving cameras and fitting rooms. Just heard that another co-worker has been sentenced to two years at Her Majesty's pleasure for being a dirty pervert, including "inappropriate behaviour" with vulnerable persons.

Starting to think this is a Yewtree-type situation, and that the net is closing in. Can I hide out at your bit, P&B?

What's more concerning is that there are at least two bigger deviants than you, not only in the world, but in your organisation.

[BFTD]

11 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

No.  Cheerio BEAST

Where's Nizzy when you need him?  

9 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

What's more concerning is that there are at least two bigger deviants than you, not only in the world, but in your organisation.

This is probably the nicest thing anyone's said about me in years.

Touched. Very touched.