I have nearly completed my first 12 month contract working through my own limited company, operating outside of IR35. I live in Scotland and my client's office where I work is some two hours drive away, however the manager in charge that I invoice is in England.
I have some questions I need answers to.
Firstly - travelling - as I mentioned I travel some 2 hrs on a Monday to get to my place of work however I include this as part of my 8 hr working day i.e 2 hrs travel 6 hrs at office = 1 x day rate of £X. I then rent a flat near my client's office for the duration of the week before generally returning home on a Friday again including the same 2 hrs travelling in my day rate. My justification for this is that my time spent travelling to one clients place of work prevents me from doing work for another client, however by just charging my day rate I am not charging for travelling. Am I fair and correct in my assumption?
Secondly - timekeeping - my contract states that I have autonomy with regards to days/hours worked and otherwise I have no written information that says I must work X hrs per day to get my day rate.
However at my place of work my client has a security clock in system that records your entry and exit of the building.
Due to the nature of my work I see it that I dont physically need to be in the office to perform my duties because I have a laptop and phone I can be in my rented flat or at home doing work, as long as its done is the important thing. Furthermore if my work is done then what is the point in hanging around to fill a clock.
However the manager at my place of work questioned me about my timekeeping because it appeared irregular and inconsistent due to my coming and going and informed me that these timesheets do get sent on to those persons that sign the invoices.
The way I see it is that because I am outside of IR35 I need to be able to be free to come and go as I please i.e autonomy as my contract states otherwise IR will look at me as an employee. Furthermore I do have a verbal agreement with the person in England that I can choose to work from home etc as long as he is in the loop which seems fair enough to me. Am I fair and correct in these assumptions to or should I be a bit more concerned.
I have some questions I need answers to.
Firstly - travelling - as I mentioned I travel some 2 hrs on a Monday to get to my place of work however I include this as part of my 8 hr working day i.e 2 hrs travel 6 hrs at office = 1 x day rate of £X. I then rent a flat near my client's office for the duration of the week before generally returning home on a Friday again including the same 2 hrs travelling in my day rate. My justification for this is that my time spent travelling to one clients place of work prevents me from doing work for another client, however by just charging my day rate I am not charging for travelling. Am I fair and correct in my assumption?
Secondly - timekeeping - my contract states that I have autonomy with regards to days/hours worked and otherwise I have no written information that says I must work X hrs per day to get my day rate.
However at my place of work my client has a security clock in system that records your entry and exit of the building.
Due to the nature of my work I see it that I dont physically need to be in the office to perform my duties because I have a laptop and phone I can be in my rented flat or at home doing work, as long as its done is the important thing. Furthermore if my work is done then what is the point in hanging around to fill a clock.
However the manager at my place of work questioned me about my timekeeping because it appeared irregular and inconsistent due to my coming and going and informed me that these timesheets do get sent on to those persons that sign the invoices.
The way I see it is that because I am outside of IR35 I need to be able to be free to come and go as I please i.e autonomy as my contract states otherwise IR will look at me as an employee. Furthermore I do have a verbal agreement with the person in England that I can choose to work from home etc as long as he is in the loop which seems fair enough to me. Am I fair and correct in these assumptions to or should I be a bit more concerned.
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