Client taking pension contributions from my bill
Discussion
Just trying to get the law on this clarified.
I work as a Freelance TV Cameraman, and have done for over 25 years, so I bill clients for work done and hopefully get paid within 30 days.
I'm self employed, a Sole Trader, so I have an accountant and pay my Tax and NI bills twice a year and have my own personal pension.
One of the companies, that I do a little work for over the years, has suddenly started to deduct money from my invoices, saying it is the law and that everyone has to pay into their 'Work Place Pension'.
Countless calls to their accounts department has got me nowhere, just the same old 'It's now the law' and that once any paperwork finds it's way to my address, I can then start the process to opt out!!?
Currently we are talking £13.00 but I am due to invoice for more work done and have been booked for loads of days next month.
I have even called the pension provider, Aviva, who were friendly and helpful on the phone, but could not find any record of me.
If Aviva had heard of me I should have told them that I am now 55 and want to do a draw down
I just really want to check if this is really a law, especially as I am Freelance and have not had any trouble with all my other clients.
Cheers.
I work as a Freelance TV Cameraman, and have done for over 25 years, so I bill clients for work done and hopefully get paid within 30 days.
I'm self employed, a Sole Trader, so I have an accountant and pay my Tax and NI bills twice a year and have my own personal pension.
One of the companies, that I do a little work for over the years, has suddenly started to deduct money from my invoices, saying it is the law and that everyone has to pay into their 'Work Place Pension'.
Countless calls to their accounts department has got me nowhere, just the same old 'It's now the law' and that once any paperwork finds it's way to my address, I can then start the process to opt out!!?
Currently we are talking £13.00 but I am due to invoice for more work done and have been booked for loads of days next month.
I have even called the pension provider, Aviva, who were friendly and helpful on the phone, but could not find any record of me.
If Aviva had heard of me I should have told them that I am now 55 and want to do a draw down
I just really want to check if this is really a law, especially as I am Freelance and have not had any trouble with all my other clients.
Cheers.
croyde said:
Just trying to get the law on this clarified.
I work as a Freelance TV Cameraman, and have done for over 25 years, so I bill clients for work done and hopefully get paid within 30 days.
I'm self employed, a Sole Trader, so I have an accountant and pay my Tax and NI bills twice a year and have my own personal pension.
One of the companies, that I do a little work for over the years, has suddenly started to deduct money from my invoices, saying it is the law and that everyone has to pay into their 'Work Place Pension'.
Countless calls to their accounts department has got me nowhere, just the same old 'It's now the law' and that once any paperwork finds it's way to my address, I can then start the process to opt out!!?
Currently we are talking £13.00 but I am due to invoice for more work done and have been booked for loads of days next month.
I have even called the pension provider, Aviva, who were friendly and helpful on the phone, but could not find any record of me.
If Aviva had heard of me I should have told them that I am now 55 and want to do a draw down
I just really want to check if this is really a law, especially as I am Freelance and have not had any trouble with all my other clients.
Cheers.
I thought it was only for employees.I work as a Freelance TV Cameraman, and have done for over 25 years, so I bill clients for work done and hopefully get paid within 30 days.
I'm self employed, a Sole Trader, so I have an accountant and pay my Tax and NI bills twice a year and have my own personal pension.
One of the companies, that I do a little work for over the years, has suddenly started to deduct money from my invoices, saying it is the law and that everyone has to pay into their 'Work Place Pension'.
Countless calls to their accounts department has got me nowhere, just the same old 'It's now the law' and that once any paperwork finds it's way to my address, I can then start the process to opt out!!?
Currently we are talking £13.00 but I am due to invoice for more work done and have been booked for loads of days next month.
I have even called the pension provider, Aviva, who were friendly and helpful on the phone, but could not find any record of me.
If Aviva had heard of me I should have told them that I am now 55 and want to do a draw down
I just really want to check if this is really a law, especially as I am Freelance and have not had any trouble with all my other clients.
Cheers.
croyde said:
Just trying to get the law on this clarified.
I work as a Freelance TV Cameraman, and have done for over 25 years, so I bill clients for work done and hopefully get paid within 30 days.
I'm self employed, a Sole Trader, so I have an accountant and pay my Tax and NI bills twice a year and have my own personal pension.
One of the companies, that I do a little work for over the years, has suddenly started to deduct money from my invoices, saying it is the law and that everyone has to pay into their 'Work Place Pension'.
Countless calls to their accounts department has got me nowhere, just the same old 'It's now the law' and that once any paperwork finds it's way to my address, I can then start the process to opt out!!?
Currently we are talking £13.00 but I am due to invoice for more work done and have been booked for loads of days next month.
I have even called the pension provider, Aviva, who were friendly and helpful on the phone, but could not find any record of me.
If Aviva had heard of me I should have told them that I am now 55 and want to do a draw down
I just really want to check if this is really a law, especially as I am Freelance and have not had any trouble with all my other clients.
Cheers.
You're not an employee, they're either mistaken, incompetent or trying to underpay you, given most HR and purchasing dept I've worked with in big business I suspect one ofthe former. I work as a Freelance TV Cameraman, and have done for over 25 years, so I bill clients for work done and hopefully get paid within 30 days.
I'm self employed, a Sole Trader, so I have an accountant and pay my Tax and NI bills twice a year and have my own personal pension.
One of the companies, that I do a little work for over the years, has suddenly started to deduct money from my invoices, saying it is the law and that everyone has to pay into their 'Work Place Pension'.
Countless calls to their accounts department has got me nowhere, just the same old 'It's now the law' and that once any paperwork finds it's way to my address, I can then start the process to opt out!!?
Currently we are talking £13.00 but I am due to invoice for more work done and have been booked for loads of days next month.
I have even called the pension provider, Aviva, who were friendly and helpful on the phone, but could not find any record of me.
If Aviva had heard of me I should have told them that I am now 55 and want to do a draw down
I just really want to check if this is really a law, especially as I am Freelance and have not had any trouble with all my other clients.
Cheers.
It sounds as if the change has come about because the client has reached their staging date for workplace pension auto enrolment.
The 'workers' that have to be auto enrolled can apparently extend to freelancers or self-employed contractors depending on the circumstances of their 'employment'.
http://www.biznuspayroll.co.uk/workplace-pensions-...
The 'workers' that have to be auto enrolled can apparently extend to freelancers or self-employed contractors depending on the circumstances of their 'employment'.
http://www.biznuspayroll.co.uk/workplace-pensions-...
above website said:
It’s not easy to pinpoint a single factor that would make a freelance or contractor a worker eligible for auto enrolment. But if most of these are true then they are likely to count as workers:
Someone might have carried out a review of the freelancers using a similar checklist and judged you to meet enough criteria to be considered a 'worker'. The fines can be quite large so if there is any doubt the probably would include you.- The contractor/freelancer is provided with tools, equipment or a vehicle to do the job rather than using their own
- They operate out of your premises rather than their own
- They represent you and your business name rather than their own
- If an error is made it is corrected at your cost
- The contract states that they are entitled to employee benefits such as holiday pay, sick pay and notice.
They've made a conscious decision to include you rather than ask you first. I've set up a pension scheme for one of our employees who was happy to be auto-enrolled, but for ad-hoc freelance staff, I've not done anything, nor would I expect to. We stopped using freelancers recently anyway.
Is there any reason you're not limited (and VAT registered for that matter, not that it is relevant in this case)?
It sounds a bit odd that they've done this, but is more likely, in my view, to be a decision that's been made based on ignorance rather than malice, given my experience of administrators in our industry. I've not heard of anyone else getting caught by this, although most people that I work with are limited.
Is there any reason you're not limited (and VAT registered for that matter, not that it is relevant in this case)?
It sounds a bit odd that they've done this, but is more likely, in my view, to be a decision that's been made based on ignorance rather than malice, given my experience of administrators in our industry. I've not heard of anyone else getting caught by this, although most people that I work with are limited.
croyde said:
Trouble is the amounts are so little. 13 quid last month. Maybe a bit more next month then the company is closing down in Dec.
So not much free money I'm afraid.
Let it close down in Dec then transfer the funds into your main private pension. So not much free money I'm afraid.
Given tiny sums. - not worth worrying about instead focus on securing the next contract instead.
ralphrj said:
It sounds as if the change has come about because the client has reached their staging date for workplace pension auto enrolment.
The 'workers' that have to be auto enrolled can apparently extend to freelancers or self-employed contractors depending on the circumstances of their 'employment'.
http://www.biznuspayroll.co.uk/workplace-pensions-...
That's all correct but, if that were the case, I'd be expecting the Employer to be deducting tax and NI, and providing the OP with payslips. As well as sick pay, holiday pay, Maternity leave, Paternity leave, Parental Leave, ensuring that the OP is getting at least the NMW......The 'workers' that have to be auto enrolled can apparently extend to freelancers or self-employed contractors depending on the circumstances of their 'employment'.
http://www.biznuspayroll.co.uk/workplace-pensions-...
above website said:
It’s not easy to pinpoint a single factor that would make a freelance or contractor a worker eligible for auto enrolment. But if most of these are true then they are likely to count as workers:
Someone might have carried out a review of the freelancers using a similar checklist and judged you to meet enough criteria to be considered a 'worker'. The fines can be quite large so if there is any doubt the probably would include you.- The contractor/freelancer is provided with tools, equipment or a vehicle to do the job rather than using their own
- They operate out of your premises rather than their own
- They represent you and your business name rather than their own
- If an error is made it is corrected at your cost
- The contract states that they are entitled to employee benefits such as holiday pay, sick pay and notice.
I would go with incompetence. The odd this is they are deducting from the invoice - they do not know what salary you are paid /pay yourself
Guessing from the day rate you charge could be materially wrong - you might pay yourself what they pay you in a year say over 5 years or however you choose.
Still it's peanuts and they are giving you some contribution. Not worth the worrry sort it in Jan when you change companies.
Guessing from the day rate you charge could be materially wrong - you might pay yourself what they pay you in a year say over 5 years or however you choose.
Still it's peanuts and they are giving you some contribution. Not worth the worrry sort it in Jan when you change companies.
It's not like IT and other freelance contracting, he could well be working for other companies in between the day's he's booked for the client he's discussing here. So it's not a case of 'changing companies' in Jan, as there will be others he's invoicing simultaneously.
In my case, I have 4-5 clients I regularly work for, it's usually ad hoc bunches of days here and there. Different jobs each time, I would expect the OP to be doing a very similar thing.
In my case, I have 4-5 clients I regularly work for, it's usually ad hoc bunches of days here and there. Different jobs each time, I would expect the OP to be doing a very similar thing.
Super Slo Mo said:
It's not like IT and other freelance contracting, he could well be working for other companies in between the day's he's booked for the client he's discussing here. So it's not a case of 'changing companies' in Jan, as there will be others he's invoicing simultaneously.
In my case, I have 4-5 clients I regularly work for, it's usually ad hoc bunches of days here and there. Different jobs each time, I would expect the OP to be doing a very similar thing.
He stated earlier that this aspect of work is ending with this company in Dec this year. In my case, I have 4-5 clients I regularly work for, it's usually ad hoc bunches of days here and there. Different jobs each time, I would expect the OP to be doing a very similar thing.
Welshbeef said:
He stated earlier that this aspect of work is ending with this company in Dec this year.
He stated that this company is closing down in December.I am reasonably confident he will be working with other companies in the meantime (given it's what we all do, unless it's a long continuous job, but that's not how he described it), although it's not that relevant. It's just strange that they have suddenly started doing this, I've not heard about any other production company or facilities company doing it.
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