ECA News
High-level ECA panel focuses on surviving the recovery
Government chief construction adviser Peter Hansford is to chair a panel discussion hosted by the ECA that will look at the key challenges facing businesses as the economy starts to grow again. The ‘Surviving the Recession’ panel will look at threats and opportunities facing construction businesses in 2014, as the economy moves from recession to recovery. ‘If you are reading this, then the chances
are that you survived the recession – and now we all need to steer our way through the recovery,’ says ECA group chief executive officer Steve Bratt. ‘As economic growth floods back into construction, the industry faces plenty of opportunities –
but also a new set of challenges.’ Bratt continued: ‘To meet these challenges head on, we have brought together a diverse group of experts from our sector’s supply chain to debate some of the key issues, including how to stay solvent and how to grow a business.’ The high-level panel will look at issues including: identifying and winning profitable work; late payment; ensuring sufficient skilled capacity; and tackling rising material and labour costs. A select gathering of key trade press, government and industry stakeholders will take part in these vital discussions. The event will take place at the Godfrey Mitchell Theatre, London, on 20 March.
ECA welcomes crackdown on false self-employment
The ECA has welcomed a major consultation by
government on a proposed law to stop employers avoiding tax by engaging their labour through agencies and intermediaries that pay workers on self-employed terms. The Onshore Employment
Intermediaries: False Self- Employment consultation, and resulting legislation, will address the increasing evidence that companies and employment agencies are using self-employed workers to avoid employer national insurance (NI) contributions and to reduce costs,
giving them an unfair commercial advantage over contractors who employ directly. It intends to ensure that where someone should be an employee but is actually paid as though they were self-employed, the right amount of tax and NI will be due from the agency providing the worker. The ECA has been concerned
for some time about the implications for members of false self-employment. Companies who disguise the employment of their workers in this way gain a competitive advantage primarily by avoiding national insurance payments and other costs of employment. The association considers the proposed legislation will provide a good opportunity to level the playing field for compliant businesses and stop unfair arrangements.
Under the changes, agencies
and intermediaries will be responsible for paying taxes that they have previously avoided. It is unlikely that they can meet these costs without passing them on
10 ECA Today March 2014
to their customers – contractors and workers. Many industry commentators believe the latest proposals will bite hard and could increase the cost of agency labour by more than 25 per cent through the introduction of employer’s NI (13.8 per cent) and paid holidays (around 11 per cent). There are other knock-on costs that are also likely to increase the expense even further. The new rules are intended to
apply from 6 April 2014. However, the ECA will be seeking a longer lead-in period before any new legislation kicks in as there is concern that companies who have taken on long-term contracts now – which are likely to be based on current self-employed labour prices – could have seriously misjudged the cost of labour come April 2014. The association believes that the benefits of supporting the level playing field on labour costs outweigh the vicious downward spiral on tender prices that is caused, to a very large extent, by false self-employment.
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