Coronavirus News and Advice for Contractors

What does coronavirus mean for contractors? Here, we are bringing ContractorUK readers the latest news and advice on COVID-19, as and when it becomes available.

The current instruction from the government is to help control the virus by washing your hands regularly, wearing a face covering when you leave home, and staying at least a metre away from people not in your household.

Many contractors will be able to work remotely, and many probably already did even before the coronavirus pandemic. However for those who can’t, or for those whose clients have ended their contracts due to the current situation, what support is available?

Many directors who owner-manage an incorporated business can furlough themselves under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Some umbrella company contractors can also be furloughed too, as the scheme is for anyone operating a PAYE scheme. You can find more details about the CJRS and relevant updates for contractors in the guides below.

Some of the other measures which the government have brought in to support contractors include being able to defer VAT payments from 20 March 2020 to 30 June 2020, and delaying self-assessment income tax from July 31st 2020 to January 31st 2021.

You can keep informed with all the latest coronavirus news below, as well as our guides on COVID-19 which cover a wide range of topics from exclusive medical advice to legal advice for contractors.

To discuss coronavirus with other contractors and experts in the industry please visit the ContractorUK forum.

COVID-19 News

Keep up to date with the latest news and developments on Coronavirus here.

Boris Johnson widens Omicron restrictions to include a policy many contractor sector businesses are operating already.

Recruiters relieved at now in-force covid rules omitting forced leave from workplaces.

Prime minister lambasted by a former fund manager for an ‘ambiguous’ WFH stance.

‘Fractured’ situation hits agency temps, as tribunals are left to sort out who is owed what and who was a ‘worker’ when.

The sheer weight of CJRS interventions could be seized upon to keep denying directors help, fears Forgotten Ltd.

The Guardian asks to hear from the excluded; The Times ‘misses the elephant in the room’ and The Sun is seen as a warning.

Taxman ‘buckles down’ on a suspected CJRS rip-off and in the same loop, an alleged multi-million-pound scam.

‘Not great’ for temporary techies, but ‘massively better than might have been expected’ – REC.

An ‘incensed’ Rebecca Seeley Harris vows a written rebuttal over HMT’s 'misunderstanding.'

Two new updates to the furlough scheme are ‘easily overlooked, and obviously were by the government.’

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