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Freelance work: tax and the law
I am thinking about whether to go freelance but I’m a bit confused. What’s the difference between being employed and self-employed? Is being self-employed the same as being freelance?
Looking at the legal side – if you’re an employee, you make a contract with your employer. You have a number of legal rights such as in unfair dismissal and redundancy, maternity and parental leave benefits and notice payment. If you’re self-employed, you’re essentially your own boss – whether you’re setting up in business in your own right or you’re offering your services to a number of potential contractors, like a journalist writing for several different newspapers. In the latter case you’d probably call yourself a freelancer, but in practice, it’s the same thing as being self-employed. There is no ‘legal’ definition of a freelancer – it’s basically just a type of self-employment and tends to refer to the provision of services to various people or organisations.
If you’re self-employed, you don’t have all the legal protection given to the employed. However, a lot of recent legislation refers to ‘workers’ rather than employees, and this could work in your favour. A worker basically means anyone who is not in business on their own account. So, although the legislation won’t cover you if you’re setting up in independent business, it could well apply if you’re in freelance-type self-employment (depending on your contracting terms) – and it does give you protection as regards working hours and under the working time and minimum wage legislation.
Good luck with your decision.
Live Q&A on Ask The Expert
Employment lawyer Rachel Lewis advises on your work-related issues
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