End umbrella company scandal

In an economic climate in which big business holds all the cards, workers are constantly being attacked and exploited.

 
One recent example is the rise of umbrella companies, which have emerged as a way of circumventing tax laws, made possible by changes to legislation on self-employment last year.

 
As UNITElive has reported previously, employers use umbrella companies to pay construction workers, who are forced to stump up for the cost of processing wages, and pay for employers’ national insurance contributions as well as their own (often totalling as much as 25 per cent of their wages).

 
Unite is urging MSPs to help end the scandal of umbrella companies in the construction industry by backing MSP Neil Findlay’s motion in a debate in the Scottish parliament tomorrow (February 4).

 
“Umbrella companies exploit construction workers pure and simple and that must be stopped,” argued Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty. “The Westminster government has left these workers in an intolerable situation forced to operate via umbrella companies and no longer considered self-employed.”

 
“In some cases workers now earn less than the minimum wage as a result of these practices,” he added. “Many have found themselves on zero-hour contracts, with no guaranteed employment but unable to work elsewhere because of exclusivity clauses.

 
“Let’s be clear these arrangements hit morale and productivity and have a negative impact on tax revenues – something the Treasury needs to wake up to,” Rafferty went on to say.

 
I congratulate Neil Findlay for bringing this debate before the Scottish parliament. We call on ministers at Holyrood and Westminster alike to use their powers to put an end to this scandal and give construction workers the fair deal they deserve.”

 
The full text of Neil Findlay’s motion can be found here.