This can sometimes mean that they owe significant payments, either to workers themselves or to HMRC, for breach of national minimum wage or tax rules. They may also find that people who they thought were volunteers have employment rights.
The Office of Tax Simplification (“OTS”) has recently acknowledged this uncertainty and has recommended clearer guidance from HMRC on this area. It has also suggested that a change in the law should be considered to exempt expenses payments for volunteers where these are equivalent to business expenses.
Many charities and voluntary organisations have been calling for more clarity in this area for some time. Greater clarity in this area would be welcome so that charities and voluntary organisations are more certain about their obligations.
There is the risk that, even if guidance or changes to the law are forthcoming, these result in a narrowing of the exemptions that apply to volunteers and voluntary workers, resulting in charities and voluntary organisations paying more tax and in greater numbers of voluntary workers being due the national minimum wage.
It remains to be seen how HMRC and the Government will respond to this call for clarity and whether any guidance or change in legislation will be forthcoming.
If you would like any advice with regard to your volunteering arrangements or to enquire about our volunteer pack, please contact Douglas Mullen at douglas.mullen@anthonycollins.com or on 0121 212 7432.
Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, a key theme of 2020 has been diversity and inclusivity. This two-part update addresses this theme in detail
Covid-19 has resulted, on the whole, in a marked co-operation between contracting authorities and their suppliers as everybody focuses on maintaining delivery as far as possible.
Employment Tribunal rules in favour of claimants in minimum wage case – has the interpretation of “working time” changed?
As we enter a recession, we have been here before, and a key question is what did we learn and how can we benefit from that learning?
It is anticipated that as lockdown restrictions ease, and particularly with children and young adults returning to education, cases of meningitis will start to rise.
As we continue to emerge from lockdown measures and deal with local measures and the short and long term economic impact of Covid-19, local authorities will need to re-assess how services will be delivered for years to come.
The Government first announced plans for a shared ownership right to buy in October 2019. At the time the sector raised concerns about the impact the plans would have on housing associations ability to borrow. An election and a pandemic later the Government announced, during the CIH Housing Festival last week, the return of the right to shared ownership as part of its Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
Two final pieces of the possession jigsaw have been published on 15 September 2020. Mr Justice Knowles’ working group on possession proceedings has issued its guidance on the “overall arrangements” for possession proceedings.
One change proposed by the Building Safety Bill is the introduction of a duty holder regime, which will see statutory responsibility for the safety of higher risk buildings placed on key individuals
Throughout this pandemic, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been publishing various “Statements on Coronavirus” (Statements) which provide guidance on consumer rights during this time.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.