Two months of turmoil at number 10 with multiple Prime Ministers and mini budgets, has sent “entirely avoidable mixed messaging” and has caused agency social workers “stress and anxiety”, according to The British Association of Social Workers (BASW).

Speaking to CommunityCare, the BASW have warned the government over the stress and anxiety caused due to the original scrapping of IR35, to then reverse it just three weeks later.

The U-Turn means that the existing IR35 rules are likely to stay for the foreseeable future as new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, was the chancellor who introduced the current IR35 rules in 2021.

The Conservative party pledged to include planned reforms of IR35 to benefit the self-employed, leading up to the last general election, which they are yet to do.

A BASW spokesperson said: “The conflicting communication coming out of government and the Treasury in recent weeks has caused agency social workers increased anxiety over their status and added stress to their long-term planning. We are helping as many practitioners as we can, but we are clearly seeing the impact from this mixed messaging, which, frustratingly, was entirely avoidable.”

In response, a Treasury spokesperson said: “With or without the reforms, the underlying rules on off-payroll working are unchanged – anyone working like an employee should pay similar tax as someone who is directly employed.”

“HMRC continues to provide support and help to any individual or employer operating under the rules.”

The Treasury said there were no plans to revisit scrapping the existing rules.

Social Work was added to the Governments skilled worker visa shortage list in February 2022.

The feedback we have received from recruitment agencies has consistently backed up the reported skills and labour shortage when it comes to hard working social workers.

All eyes will be on the upcoming budget on November 17^th 2022. People Group Services will continue to do what it can to accurately and efficiently pay key workers throughout the UK. Our unique PEO model is the perfect solution for the contractor.

Source: CommunityCare