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Comment by ascorbic | Hacker News Reader

Apple doesn't tell developers which apps they must develop. They don't insist that all development work is done by the named person. eBay doesn't tell sellers what they have to sell, nor boot them off for listing things that don't sell. App developers and eBay sellers can choose their price, and what they're selling. Uber drivers can do neither. If they're "on duty", they must accept rides or be penalised, and must charge the price set by Uber.

The full judgment is here: https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/asla...

Page 29 gives a good summary of the reasons that point towards the drivers being workers.

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But how many enterprise shops hire contract developers, hand them a laptop and cubicle and say be here from 9-5.

They'll get paid at much at more competitive rates though.

Usually in this case the developer is an employee of another company (this company can tell them what to do) and the first business is paying the second for this developers time.

Being employed via 1 or more companies is not protection. The UK government is persuing people who were hired as contractors via a staffing agency which then encouraged them to set up a personal Ltd company.

Typically these contractors pay themselves a mixture of dividends and normal paye pay to minimise tax, and the gov is saying the dividends were never really dividends so they need to pay tax and ni on them including the employers ni.

Currently this is limited to specific staffing agencies who actively instructed new contractors to create a personal company but I don't think it will stop there.

I've long felt most contractors are well within ir35 and it has been tollerated. This may be ending.

Isn't the tech industry notorious for abusing contractor law to avoid paying for things that are required for their employees, particularly startups?

And in the UK if the contractor is self-employed they are at risk if being caught by IR-35: http://www.contractoruk.com/ir35/what_is_ir35_rules_explaine...

IR-35 is employment duck-typing. If it walks, talks, and quacks like an employee, then it's an employee and should be taxed as such, even if it claims it's an independent contractor.

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