The Government has announced that the anticipated changes to the IR35 regime are being delayed by a year. The changes are now expected to come in to force on 6 April 2021.
The planned changes had the result that the extension to the IR35 regime would also apply to medium and large companies in the private sector. In summary, the changes meant that end-clients had a potential tax liability and were required to undertake an assessment of the contractor’s working relationship.
In light of the above, for those working in the private sector, the requirement to determine whether IR35 applies remains, for now, with the contractors.
Most employers are keen to avoid dismissing staff in whom they have invested time and money but this is not always possible.
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), sometimes referred to as “gagging clauses”, are rarely out of the news.
On 5 December 2022, following its Making Flexible Working The Default consultation, which has now concluded, the UK government announced that it will be introducing reforms to the law around employees’ rights to make flexible working requests.
I was interested to read the recent reports in the Guardian and BBC News that Elon Musk has sent an email which requires all staff to sign a commitment to working “long hours at high intensity” and being “extremely hardcore”. They report that the alternative is that they will receive three months’ severance pay.