Legislation | Talent / HR to clear up the mess - yet again…

In April 2020 new legislation (IR35/off-payroll) is coming into effect in the private sector that will change the face of flexible resourcing in the UK. In fact, it already has. Some organisations, mainly very large ones, have already implemented operational decisions in advance of its arrival.

At this point I must own up to having skin in this particular game. I am the CEO of a recruitment/resourcing firm whose business model is partly based on supplying contractors, including a large number of IT contractors, to large private sector organisations. So please feel free to assume that I’m biased.

The new legislation will have a dramatically disruptive effect on how my firm will conduct business in the future. But that’s our problem – and we’re dealing with it. What interests – and intrigues - me mostly is how organisations are dealing with it – or not.

I am not thinking simply about short - to medium - term operational issues, although these are important. Yes, in the short term, its effects will be operationally disruptive. But organisations will manage – or at least muddle through – these. The bigger question is whether HMRC’s grab for more tax revenue represents, totally inadvertently, a further milestone on a journey that is reshaping our view of the nature of work in society, let alone in the economy.