How does status usually look in your sector?
Free tool · Contractors and agencies
Pick a sector and see how control, substitution and pay usually look there, what tends to undermine a self-employed arrangement, and which payroll routes come up.
Employment status is decided on the facts of each engagement, but the facts follow patterns. On a construction site the question is usually substitution and who directs the trade; on a ward it is clinical governance; in technology it is whether the contractor is delivering a project or filling a seat in the team.
These notes set out those patterns for five sectors, so a placement can be tested against what is normal there. They are general, not a ruling on any one placement, and they sit alongside the working-practices triage for the engagement in front of you.
Sector working practices
The printable packs
Construction & CIS working practices
How control, substitution and pay usually look in construction, what undermines a self-employed arrangement, and the routes that come up.
Healthcare & Social Care working practices
How control, substitution and pay usually look in healthcare, what undermines a self-employed arrangement, and the routes that come up.
IT & Technology working practices
How control, substitution and pay usually look in IT and technology, what undermines a self-employed arrangement, and the routes that come up.
Engineering working practices
How control, substitution and pay usually look in engineering, what undermines a self-employed arrangement, and the routes that come up.
Oil & Gas, Energy working practices
How control, substitution and pay usually look in oil, gas and energy, what undermines a self-employed arrangement, and the routes that come up.
The detail behind it
Agencies · Payroll
Every payroll option, assessed and matched: choosing payroll routes for a contract book
Provider-employed PAYE, outsourced PAYE, managed bureau, CIS or direct PAYE. How to choose payroll routes for a contract book by sector, volume and client requirement, and what a compliant provider panel looks like.
Outsourced PAYEPayroll bureauPAYE umbrellaAgencies8-minute read
Where this leads
The things people ask before they ring
No. Every result is on the page as soon as you press the button. If you want a copy, you can email it to yourself, and we only follow up if you tick the box that says we can.
No. Status is decided on the facts of each engagement. The notes describe what is usual in the sector, so you can see where a placement differs from the pattern and which questions are worth asking about it.
Test the engagement itself. The working-practices triage asks the questions HMRC's own tool will ask, and flags the ones still uncertain. Then run HMRC's tool, or ask the client for its status determination statement.
Fifteen minutes will tell you where you stand
Whether you're a contractor after your next job, an agency placing across Europe, or a business that needs people found, paid and funded — start with a conversation. It costs nothing and we'll tell you honestly if we can't help. No form to fill in first.
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