The
consultation by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) on its proposed levy for the period from 2022 to 2025 has now closed. The CITB is finalising its levy proposals before opening a period of consensus from 4 June 2021 to 15 August 2021 during which construction businesses will be able to comment. The
CITB levy applies to all employers engaged wholly or mainly in construction industry activities and is used by the CITB to ensure that construction employers have the skilled workforce they need. Levy rates have been temporarily reduced to reflect financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Off-payroll working
HMRC s
changes to the off-payroll working rules (IR35) came into force on 6 April 2021 following an announcement in February 2021 that the rules would apply only to payments made for services provided on or after 6 April 2021. The changes confirm: where a worker has no interest in a company, the company will not be a relevant intermediary (which wa
King’s College London
Around half of workers in electrical contracting industry work falsely as self-employed or on a “gig” basis.
Image courtesy of Ivan Bandura @unsplash
A report by Howard Gospel, Emeritus Professor of Management, on behalf of the electrical contracting industry’s Joint Industry Board says that the steady growth in the use of non-direct, off-payroll working has a negative impact on productivity, skills, and safety in the sector, as well as implications for UK tax receipts.
Drawing on interviews with over 50 industry leaders, published and unpublished materials, government reports, and peer-reviewed academic research, Professor Gospel’s report concludes that while subcontracting and self-employment are essential features of electrical contracting and other parts of the construction industry, the balance has been allowed to tip too far away from direct employment, with currently only half the workforce in directly employment.
Andy Mitchell
The co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and a senior union official have backed a new call on the industry to reduce its reliance on self-employed tradespeople.
CLC co-chair Andy Mitchell and Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail, also president of the Trades Union Congress, wrote in a foreword to a report released on Thursday that a “healthier, more sustainable balance” between self-employed and direct employment “needs to be restored”.
Construction Newsrevealed earlier this week that the government is working on how to encourage this shift in the industry.
The new report was released by the Electrotechnical Joint Industry Board (JIB), the body responsible for issuing the trade’s essential Electrotechnical Certification Scheme competence cards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It used electrical contracting as a case study to draw conclusions about the construction sector as a whole.