BBC worker's suicide attempt highlights importance of employer advice

Reports that a BBC worker attempted suicide after the stress of being hauled before the courts as HMRC tried to reclaim tax has put focus on the financial advice that employers provide.

In recent months, hundreds of BBC presenters have been told they owe thousands in unpaid historic tax, despite staff saying they set up their own companies on the advice of the BBC.

The BBC has denied this. However, shocking new evidence suggests that one BBC worker tried to kill herself over the legal action being taken against her.

In an anonymous statement, read in evidence to MPs, she recounted: “I have always loved working for the BBC but the way they have behaved has reduced me to more than tears. It’s one of the factors that three days ago took me into my loft where I tried to hang myself.”