EXCLUSIVE: IPSE chairman James Collings briefs ContractorCalculator on new strategy implementation. Contractors are to benefit from a raft of measures implemented by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) over the coming year, including new research into the contracting sector as well as improved access to benefits.
“We are now getting the measures in place to achieve our goals,” he explained to ContractorCalculator’s business correspondent at a face-to-face interview in IPSE’s headquarters in Westminster.
“We will have evidence-based arguments to be able to explain to Government and policymakers that contractors are valued members of the business community, and that they are enablers for so much more.”
As well as continuing to make strides to influence policy, and making efforts to provide contractors with new benefits, Collings notes that IPSE is still working to try and secure access to maternity pay for people working for themselves.
Altering the public perception of contractors
Appointed chairman in July 2015, Collings has been a member of the IPSE board since 2008. A capacity manager in the IT sector, he has been contracting since 1998, and highlights benefits in terms of flexibility and lifestyle as major factors behind his decision to make the leap into contracting.
Those 17 years spent in the contracting sector have had a significant influence on Collings’ primary goal: “My overriding aim is to ensure contracting becomes viewed as a legitimate way of working. IR35 came into play shortly after I had begun contracting, and it was evident back then that the Government didn’t consider contracting to be a valid way of work.”
Collings also highlights the expansion of membership as a priority, with his specific role being to set the strategy and hold the organisation to account for delivery, although he also contributes by offering a contractor’s perspective to the organisation.
“They’re [the IPSE team] the experts. I bring the membership perspective, the contractor’s mind set and the contractor’s needs and requirements.”
CRSE offers “a significant step towards change”
When asked about what significant progress has been made over the first six months of his watch, Collings identifies the formation of the IPSE-supported thinktank, the Centre for Research on Self-Employment (CRSE), as a measure which is set to heavily influence public policy.
“For a long time, when both IPSE and the wider contracting community have been forming arguments, the counter-argument has always been: “Where is the evidence?”
“The research carried out by the CRSE is set to be a complete game-changer. It will provide evidence, on the back of which you will get policymakers who are actually prepared to listen and understand. So that, for me, is a huge thing that we have been able to deliver on.”
Collings also highlights the Government u-turn over contractor access to travel and subsistence relief and, less recently, the appointment of a small business commissioner and the review into self-employment as further examples of IPSE’s achievements.
“It’s great because I can remember the days when we would get together and nobody would listen to us. We’ve forgotten how far contracting has come in the past 15 years, and the drive is still there to gain even more recognition and influence.”
Bridging the gap between contractors and employees in terms of benefits
For the convenience of working flexible hours, contractors have long had to make do without certain benefits that many permanent employees enjoy, as Collings’ highlights:
“When you consider the leap from permanent work to contracting, that leap used to mean that you would suddenly have no benefits of any kind. Now, we don’t want benefits in terms of holiday pay, but what about the benefits that employees often receive in terms of discount schemes and gym memberships?”
IPSE is working to bridge this gap by offering its members various consumer discounts through its ‘IPSE Advantages’ scheme.
“We now have the same terms and benefits for contractors, and there’s more to come in terms of closing that gap and making it less of a case of giving up everything,” Collings adds.
IPSE pushing for maternity pay for contractors
One area of contention amongst many within the contingent workforce concerns the lack of access to sick pay and maternity pay. Whilst IPSE has worked hard to deliver other benefits to contractors, Collings highlights that these issues are still high on the agenda.
“One of our manifesto pledges was maternity pay for the self-employed, and it’s being listened to. It’s within the scope of the self-employment review which we also called for, so the Government is taking a really serious look. I would suggest the solution for sickness pay comes out of an insurance-based product that the contractor can choose to take out.”
IPSE has already seen support on the maternity front, after Labour pledged to extend maternity pay to the self-employed at its party conference in September, with the organisation hoping for some cross-party support on the issue in the New Year.
However, Collings flags up holiday pay as an unnecessary protection, noting: “We accept the risk of being in business because we are in business. This is a valid way of working. We’re not employees and so we don’t require all the protections that employees receive. We can take care of certain aspects ourselves.”
IR35 continues to pose the biggest challenge
Government proposals and measures introduced over the past six months have provided cause for concern amongst the contractor community, with the Summer Budget 2015 having a particularly wide-ranging impact. Unsurprisingly, Collings identifies this as the biggest challenge that IPSE has faced since he became chairman.
“The first budget [of this new Government] really was a surprise to everybody, and that was a huge challenge, but we rose to it. We faced up each measure, including the travel and subsistence proposal and the IR35 announcement, and fought them back.”
However, whilst the outcome regarding IR35 may not ultimately be as bleak as once feared, the ongoing saga and surrounding questions continue to provide cause for concern for Collings and IPSE.
“Whilst the Government accepts that IR35 is unwieldy and burdensome, the question as to how this issue progresses from here will remain the overriding challenge,” concludes Collings. “We’ve consulted with our members widely on this, so we’re definitely putting forward their point of view and helping to shape the argument moving forward.”