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The effect on the workforce

Employers must assess their workforce to determine whether they're treated as a 'worker' under the new legislation.

Assessment of workers

The assessment of workers is first required:

  • on the staging date
  • whenever a new worker joins after the staging date
  • on a worker's 16th birthday after the staging date, and
  • on a worker's 22nd birthday after the staging date.

The assessment of workers is also required:

  • on the date the employer receives an opt-in or joining notice, and 
  • on a regular basis for non-eligible jobholders and entitled workers.

The different types of worker

There are three different categories of worker, determined by their age and how much they earn:

  • eligible jobholders
  • non-eligible jobholders, and
  • entitled workers.

The table below helps to identify each type of worker.

1204emp-ae-workers-diagram

1These figures are for the 2013/14 tax year.


Exclusions to the employer duties

People who are treated as workers

The following people are treated as workers but are not covered by the employer duties:

  • those who do not work or ordinarily work in the UK
  • those under age 16, and
  • those aged 75 and over.

People who are not treated as workers

The following people are not treated as workers so the employer duties don't apply to them:

  • the self employed
  • members of the armed forces, and
  • directors of companies unless they have a contract of employment to work for that company and there is someone else employed by the company under a contract of employment.

Postponement

Employers can use postponement to defer the assessment of workers and their employer duties. The postponement period can't be more than three months.

The end of the postponement period is known as the deferral date and employers must assess workers on this date.

What the employer must do if postponement is used

Employers who use postponement must provide workers with a postponement notice. This must be issued within a month and a day of:

  • the staging date
  • the worker's first day of employment after the staging date, and
  • the day that a worker becomes an eligible jobholder after the staging date (for example, the day a worker reaches age 22.)

Last update April 2013
37W0950/2


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