7th May 2014, 02:21 PM
The HMRCs guidelines are quite clear and if you negotiate the terms and conditions under which you work then provide an invoice when that work is finished I see no problem. It's the level to which you can negotiate that determines whether you are self employed or not.
I would agree that in general basic digging would not often fall into the catagory of self employed but when you are experienced and skills are in demand it is surprising how flexible prospective clients can be.
As for insurance if you are responsible for digging a hole that some member of the public falls into then I doubt whether the land owners insurance would come into it at all. And may the gods help you if that machine you are supervising cuts a major service.
If you are truely self employed then you are responsible for the insurance side of things and a client who is taking you on real self employment terms will (should) check.
Like many here I think that most adverts for selfemployed diggers are from companies trying to avoid the hassle of taking on short term staff. My stints of selfemployment have not be in response to adverts but rather through a base of regular clients and contacts, people who need projects undertaken know what I can do and are willing to negotiate.
I would agree that in general basic digging would not often fall into the catagory of self employed but when you are experienced and skills are in demand it is surprising how flexible prospective clients can be.
As for insurance if you are responsible for digging a hole that some member of the public falls into then I doubt whether the land owners insurance would come into it at all. And may the gods help you if that machine you are supervising cuts a major service.
If you are truely self employed then you are responsible for the insurance side of things and a client who is taking you on real self employment terms will (should) check.
Like many here I think that most adverts for selfemployed diggers are from companies trying to avoid the hassle of taking on short term staff. My stints of selfemployment have not be in response to adverts but rather through a base of regular clients and contacts, people who need projects undertaken know what I can do and are willing to negotiate.