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The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) has declared a victory for freelance contractors by heading off a ten-year attempt to create a global endorsement for measures such as IR35. Officials at The International Labour Organisation had been trying to create an ‘instrument’ that would allow the world’s regulators to declare all commercial contracts are employment contracts. Since 1998, they have also been pushing for a framework to dictate all independent contractors to be employees. Either outcome would have internationally endorsed IR35. But at Thursday’s Conference, which gathers 4,000 officials from government, worker and employer groups worldwide, delegates took the first step to spotlight the third way – ‘freelancing.’ They voted by a majority to effectively endorse the status of independent contractors by declaring that employment law should not interfere with commercial relationships. Welcoming the verdict, the PCG said several years of dialogue about the right to be self-employed and the “inappropriate meddling” between client and contractor has finally paid off. They trumpeted “positive implications” for freelancers in light of “a significant shift” in the ILO’s stance, highlighted in a clause of its Recommendation. An ILO Recommendation is not binding on nations, although nations are expected to report annually on compliance. A Recommendation, however, carries significant moral force and raises expectations that national laws will comply. Clause 8 states, “National policy for protection of workers in an employment relationship should not interfere with true civil and commercial relationships, while at the same time ensuring that individuals in an employment relationship have the protection they are due.” David Ramsden, PCG chairman, said the Organisation’s willingness to spotlight freelancing is a “significant milestone” in understanding the changing nature of work in the 21st century. “We describe freelance working as the ‘third way’ – outside the traditional divide of employer and employee – and we wholeheartedly welcome the recognition that freelance consultants and contractors earn their living through commercial contracts and do not want or deserve to be deemed ‘employees,’ “ he said. “As we recently articulated…, the old-fashioned dichotomy of ‘employers and employees’ ignores a large section of the workforce; as a significant proportion of the UK’s diverse workforce, freelancers make a valuable contribution to the economy and to a labour market that is characterised by diversity and flexibility.” Roger Sinclair, IR35 specialist and legal consultant at Egos Ltd, cautiously welcomed the ILO’s change of heart, saying it bodes well for the UK’s freelance business owners. “Whilst the excitement level generated by this announcement is unlikely to result in freelancers dancing in the street tonight, it seems to me that the effects of this could be far-reaching,” he told Contractor UK. “It is, as they say, ‘another brick in the wall’ of consolidating genuine independent status for those who wish to operate their own freelance businesses, free from the shackles of the conventional employment relationship. This, I believe, is A Good Thing.” Meanwhile David Ramsden said he hopes the global recognition of freelancing as a “legitimate business model” will be repeated in the European Union’s forthcoming Green Paper on employment status, to which the PCG has made a submission. Jun 20, 2006 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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