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The government has published fresh guidance on zero hours contracts. Has it answered the big practical questions under the Employment Rights Act 2025? Not quite. On 25 August 2026, the government’s consultation on zero hours contracts closed. Cue the team at Chartergates keeping a close eye out for the long-awaited detail on the zero hours…

When “Freelance” Gets Shown the Red Card The case of Brennan v PLZ Soccer Limited provides an important reminder for businesses using freelancers that the label given to a working relationship is not necessarily decisive when determining worker status. Who Were the Parties in Brennan v PLZ Soccer Limited? The claimant was Miss R Brennan,…

Our article on the changes to the right to work regime from 1st October 2026 referred to the legislative changes extending the scope of right to work checks beyond traditional employment arrangements. This guide brings together our subsequent two-part series on extended liability. The original articles have been lightly adapted and restructured to provide a…

CIS Fraud Measures Are Now in Force As the hot weather continues to give cause for concern in terms of safe working practices, the construction sector is of particular focus given the risk of heat exposure to those working outdoors and on construction sites. It comes to mind that although some of those affected would…

The UK Supreme Court has delivered a significant judgment in Akbars Restaurant (Middlesbrough) Limited (“Akbars”) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (“Home Office”) [2026] UKSC 26. The Court allowed the employer’s appeal and clarified what the Home Office must include in a Civil Penalty Notice (CPN) issued under section 15 of the Immigration,…

Many organisations seek to recover training fees and related costs if an employee leaves soon after receiving training. This is particularly common where the employee can use that training to their advantage with another employer. The key point for employers is that clawing back training costs can be enforceable. However, they must be proportionate, tailored…

Readers will recall that the Fair Work Agency (FWA) is the Government’s new enforcement body. It is responsible for upholding workers’ rights and providing a single point of contact for individuals who believe their employment rights have been breached. With the FWA now fully established, one of its key responsibilities will be the compliance and…

Significant Changes to Right to Work Compliance The Government has confirmed that significant changes to the UK’s legal strategy to combat illegal working will take effect on 1 October 2026. This represents, arguably, one of the most substantial reforms to right to work compliance since the civil penalty scheme was introduced. What Has Been Amended?…

How Changing Working Practices Are Affecting Office Space One of the upshots of the Covid pandemic was an increase in office-based personnel working from home. Irrespective of one’s view of whether this is helpful or unhelpful to productivity, it is not likely that this will change in the foreseeable future. Why Businesses Are Reviewing Their…

By Kaushik Chaudhuri, Senior Consultant at Chartergate Legal Services The Employment Tribunal (ET) decision in Mr Mohamed Ageli v Sabtina Limited (a link to the judgment can be found here and here) is a stark reminder that holiday entitlement is far more than an administrative issue. Where employers allow, encourage or simply tolerate holidays being…

At Chartergates, we receive a significant number of enquiries relating to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) Levy. While the nature of these enquiries varies, a recurring theme has emerged in recent months: labour suppliers that are registered and paying the levy are increasingly questioning why other companies providing similar services appear not to be…

HMRC’s Continued Focus on the Construction Sector Our regular readers will recall our many articles over the years highlighting HMRC’s focus on the construction sector. HMRC continues to view the sector as one where dubious practices and non-compliance can be common. The latest evidence of this targeted approach can be seen in the fraud measures…

The rules governing tax relief for travel expenses continue to be a frequent source of dispute between taxpayers and HMRC, particularly where employees undertake assignments at multiple locations. Two recent First-tier Tribunal decisions, A Nurse v HMRC and Nwaneri v HMRC, provide useful insight into the application of the travel expense provisions contained in Part…

Employment Law Changes Are Still Moving Forward After all the publicity and to-ing and fro-ing in Parliament about passing the Employment Rights Act back in December 2025, many will feel that, so far, in 2026 it has all gone quiet. What has been happening is that there have been a number of public consultations on…

In the case of Omar Rafique v HMRC, the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) flatly refused Mr Rafique’s (the Appellant) application to reinstate a struck-out appeal. Background to the HMRC Debt HMRC wrote to Mr Rafique on 2 April 2024 regarding an outstanding debt of £51,203.07 arising from penalties for deliberate behaviour that had been transferred to…

By Zubair Ahmed, Senior Consultant at Chartergate Legal Services Fitting that in a World Cup year, this case has followed a tournament narrative of its own. What began in the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) progressed through each round of appeal, from the Upper Tribunal to the Court of Appeal and, ultimately, the Supreme Court (SC), before…

End of an Era As the 5th of April deadline to register with HMRC in order to voluntarily payroll benefits and expenses passes, thoughts turn to what could well be the last mass P11D season. This is because it will be mandatory to payroll most benefits and expenses next year. Mandatory Implementation It has been…

By Humzah Osman, Consultant at Chartergate Legal Services  As mentioned in our news letter last week, the Fair Work Agency (“FWA”) has been established. This week we take the opportunity to look at it in a little more detail with a focus on what to expect over the coming year. In particular, the policy paper…

Understanding when a contract of employment is legally formed is critical for employers and HR teams. The case of Kankanalapalli v Loesche Energy Systems Limited provides important guidance on what happens when a job offer is accepted but later withdrawn before the employee’s start date. In this article, we break down the facts and the…

Construction businesses have long operated under close scrutiny from HMRC. From frequent, and often lengthy employment status enquiries, to the introduction of the domestic reverse charge, the Joint and Several Liability (JSL) rules, VAT labour supply due diligence, and the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) itself, the sector has seen a steady expansion of compliance expectations.…

A recent High Court judgment in James Kay & Ors v Vision Payroll Ltd & Ors [2025] delivers a crucial warning to directors, particularly those operating within the temporary labour market.  This case involved SJ Pay Limited, an umbrella company whose business model centred around employing temporary workers and supplying them to various agencies in…

Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves presented the long-awaited Budget for 2025.  In an unprecedented move in the lead up to the Budget, the OBR ‘accidentally’ published its report with the full economic and fiscal forecasts before Reeves had delivered her speech.  Whilst certain parts of the Budget proposals are often leaked in the run up to…

HMRC has issued a briefing regarding a significant increase in sophisticated tax fraud targeting employers and recruitment agencies offering ‘cheaper’ payroll models, particularly affecting those in the temporary labour market. HMRC believe organised crime groups continue to market fraudulent payroll models that falsely claim to offer to dramatically reduce employer costs.  HMRC considers these arrangements…

Partnership of East London Co-operative v Joanne Maclean The claimant, (JM) provided her services as a nurse to the respondent (East London) via her personal service company, Maclean J Limited. She contracted with East London on the basis of being self-employed. Not only was she responsible for paying her own tax but she also provided…

A recent tribunal case, Tyler Security Limited (TSL) v HMRC, examined the supervision, direction or control (SDC) rules under Sections 44–47 ITEPA. As one of the first judgments on this issue, it offers insight into how tribunals interpret SDC—an area of growing importance with forthcoming umbrella company tax reforms that may increase self-employment. Although the…

Judgement Fact File: Partnership East London Co-operatives Ltd v Miss J Maclean [2025] EAT 142 When businesses engage with Ltd Co Contractors, often referred to as Personal Service Companies (PSCs), the focus for many, quite rightly, is on IR35. There are however significant employment law ramifications if businesses get it wrong. A key risk area…

Established HMRC VAT guidance on the supply of locums overturned at tribunal… The First Tier Tax Tribunal has handed down a potentially major judgment relating to the correct VAT treatment of the supply of locum doctors in the healthcare sector.  Given that this judgment, if it stands, changes how the supply of locum doctors is…

HMRC recently revised its Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) digital tool with effect from 30 April 2025, which HMRC, rather optimistically, hopes will make it easier for using the CEST tool, including simplifying the language.  The relevant Employment Status Manual (ESM) published by HMRC has also been updated to reflect the new updates.   So,…

At Chartergates, as a group, we decided not to respond to the consultations.  This was largely due to the fact that we considered them to be foregone conclusions.  Given the outcomes of the consultations, we are pleased that we chose not to respond as it allowed us to concentrate on preparing for the inevitable. Consequently,…

Judgment Fact File: Parties: Makdani v Newcode Partnership Limited Jurisdiction: Employment Tribunal Main Legal Considerations: Employment status Key Facts / Arguments: Background: In 2018 Makdani, an accountant who had previously been supplied as an agency worker, agreed with Newcode’s suggestion that he do the company’s bookkeeping on a direct contract going forward. Makdani said that…

Parties: Appiah (C) v Tripod Partners Ltd (R) & Home Office (HO) Jurisdiction: Employment Tribunal Main legal considerations: IR35The ‘Deemed Employment Payment’Worker StatusS.13 ERA – Unlawful Deductions from Wages Key Facts/ arguments: 1. C was engaged to carry out age assessments on people arriving in the UK unlawfully.2. C was supplied via agency (Tripod) to…

In this article we explore two gig economy status cases- one that went the way of the putative employer and another that went the way of the putative worker.   The first case is the matter of Mr Z Bandi & Others v (1) Bolt Operations OU & (2) Bolt Services UK Ltd. Bolt Operations…

In one of the most consequential budgets ever, the government has delivered significant policy changes in the form of tax rises, spending and changes to legislation.  As always, the documents that follow the budget are far more important than the speech delivered in parliament. At para 5.26 of the Autumn Budget 2024 document the government…

Today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves presented Labour’s long-awaited budget, with some of the content already having been announced in the lead up and with the overall aim to address and stabilise the public finances with tax rises of approximately £40 billion.  The key announcements of today’s budget include: To address what the government refers to as…

As part of the government’s approach to changes in employment legislation, readers will no doubt be aware that one of the options, that the government considered in the Employment Rights Bill, was the right for directly engaged employees and workers to be provided with a more stable and predictable contract. Currently, the provisions of the…

Here we focus again on the construction industry.  This is by design rather than by chance as the construction industry currently finds itself under significant scrutiny from HMRC.  In our last article, we analysed the dangers posed by labour only subcontractors incorrectly utilising the DRC, and this week we take a look at HMRC’s latest…

This article looks at the recent judgment from the Supreme Court (SC) in the matter of HMRC v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL).  For those that engage self-employed subcontractors, limited company contractors or have encountered the issue of employment status, then understanding the impact of this judgment is a must. The outcome of the…

In this article we consider Labour’s proposal of a new ‘day one’ right of unfair dismissal. At present, an employee must have at least two years continuous service before they have the right not to be unfairly dismissed.  This provides employers with the flexibility to make their minds up about an employee within the first…

Here we take a more detailed look at how the new Labour government may seek to legislate in the employment jurisdiction to tackle what they perceive to be ‘exploitative practices’ while also ‘improving stability’ and ‘generating economic growth’.  From previous Labour pronouncements as well as other regulatory sources, we look at four potential measures that…

Here we look at a recent judgment concerning a penalty issued to a director of a company following a VAT assessment on the company.  The judgment in Turner v HM Revenue & Customs [2024] UKFTT 495 (TC091993) concerned a business, Loy Commodities Ltd (Loy), that traded in scrap metal with other businesses.  It was found…

In this article we continue our analysis of Labour’s employment law proposals.  This week we consider the proposal to extend the right not to be unfairly dismissed to employees from day-one of their employment.  Currently, aside from a few exceptions, an employee who is dismissed has the right to claim unfair dismissal in the employment…

In this update we consider the Upper Tribunal’s (UT) decision in the IR35 case of HMRC v Basic Broadcasting Ltd (BBL).  The case concerned HMRC’s appeal against a finding from the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) that IR35 did not apply to the arrangements between BBL and the BBC and ITV.  In constructing the hypothetical contract…

With the likelihood of a Labour government increasing with every poll released and with the recent YouGov poll projecting a Labour 194-seat majority, it’s time to consider Labour’s employment law proposals in a little more detail.  Of course, polls do not automatically equate to election results and things can change.  However, with the polls as…

In this article we look at VAT and delve into our recent client and HMRC interactions to provide some guidance on client recharges and the circumstances in which they constitute a disbursement or an expense.  What qualifies as a disbursement? For an item to qualify as a disbursement, all of the following conditions must be…

In this article we analyse the recent judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Martin Groom v Maritime and Coastguard Agency. FACTS Mr Groom (G) was a volunteer for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), since 1985.  In May 2020, G was invited to a disciplinary hearing, and following this his membership and volunteer…

This article looks a recent tribunal judgment relating to the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme (CJRS). In Aemtrie Limited & others v HMRC the three appellants, Aemtrie Ltd, Aemyrie Holdings Ltd, True Wood Grills Ltd, who were related companies under common control, faced scrutiny over their CJRS claims. The tribunal found their claims were contrary to…

Currently, the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (the “DPDI”) is making its way through parliament and at present sits at the committee stage.  Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Bill should become law in May-June 2024. Given that the DPDI is still making its way through Parliament, and therefore subject to change, with outlined what…

With the legislation relating to rolled-up holiday pay now in place and affecting leave years that commence from or after 1 April 2024, and with businesses seeking to utilise it, we have put together an article that looks at some of the more nuanced considerations that businesses need to address. It is important that clients…

In this article newsletter we shine a spotlight on the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). Our readers will be all too familiar with the potential pitfalls and the need to have adequate systems and processes in place to ensure correct operation of the scheme as well as on-going and, at the very least, periodic reviews of…

In this article we consider the recent IR35 judgment concerning, Kickabout Productions Limited (KPL), involved the well-known Talksport presenter…

We have recently received a number of queries from our accountant network and from a number of small businesses concerning the Managed Service…

Government’s mini-budget surprises with huge amendments to IR35 legislation The Growth Plan As you will undoubtedly be aware, the Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has this morning delivered his Growth Plan. The full statement, and supporting documents can be found here, but some noteworthy announcements are: IR35 RepealFor many of our clients, the IR35 announcement in today’s…

In this article we consider the recent IR35 judgment concerning, Kickabout Productions Limited (KPL), involved the well-known Talksport presenter, Paul Hawksbee (PH). We analyse the CoA’s judgment which focuses on the employment status of a hypothetical contract. As our regular readers will be aware, IR35 is a rather unique area of law as it generally applies in…

It’s been six months since the Supreme Court (SC) handed down its judgment in the case of Uber BV and others v Aslam and others [2021] UKSC 5 (Uber). As such we are dedicating this week’s newsletter to an assessment of how Uber has affected worker status cases in the tribunals so far.  We will also consider future developments for worker status and…

Last week HMRC’s online employment status service went ‘live’. We had previously gone through the test version (results not good) so were interested to see whether any improvements had been made (substantial were required). Incidentally, it should be noted that the current ‘live’ version is still headed; ‘BETA This is a new service – your feedback will…

As promised in our bulletin on 20 March, below is an analysis of the changes to the IR35 legislation for PSCs engaged to work for a public authority client.  The 2017 Finance Bill has now been published and, whilst subject to the usual parliamentary procedure and approval, contains the latest draft of the legislation containing…

Just over 9 years after the infamous Managed Service Companies rules came into force, the very first judgment on the legislation has been released by the First-tier Tax Tribunal. The case centres largely around a company called Costelloe Business Services Ltd and its associated company i4 Group Ltd (which we will refer to as “CBS”…