Bogus self employment

A 2012 report by construction union UCATT, The Great Payroll Scandal, has exposed how payroll companies are used in the construction industry to codify false self-employment. Under the scam, workers are forced to sign contracts with payroll companies to get work. They are then wrongly classified as self-employed for tax purposes and lose their employment rights. UCATT adds: “to add insult to injury, the worker has the payroll company’s charge (usually between £10-£25 per week) taken directly from their wages”.