Today’s research study “Neither One Thing Nor The Other” issued by the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is an over-simplification of the real self-employment situation according to the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA), the independent trade body for professional employment service providers.
Citizens Advice acknowledges that its calculated figure of bogus self-employment is disproportionately skewed towards the lower paid workers. However, current data unveiled by the FCSA shows that 48% of self-employed workers operate at the professional end of the spectrum – as managers, directors or senior officials or as professionals and associate professionals – thus indicating that the true bogus self-employment figure is lower than the Citizens Advice study suggests.
Commenting on the CAB report, Julia Kermode, chief executive of the FCSA said: “Whilst it is positive that the Citizens Advice Bureau is exposing some poor practices, we are concerned that today’s report may lead to pressure for a knee-jerk response to what is actually a very complex issue. “FCSA works tirelessly to monitor and analyse the real impact of legislation in our mission to enable informed decision-making that is sensible and fair for everyone. We are actively engaged in the numerous policy consultations affecting our sector currently, and will be presenting accurate evidence to support our arguments.
“We strongly oppose any bad practice and we will continue in our efforts to help rid the industry of any rogue firms.”