News, insights and advice for contractors
Stay tuned to the NWM blog for our latest company news, in-depth industry commentary and insights as well as useful guides on finance and compliance for contractors.
Recent studies show that more and more people are looking to ditch the 9-5 office working and chase after the work-from-home contractor solution.
With hours spent in commuting and the expense relating with that, it’s suggested that UK workers are looking more into flexible working arrangements that can benefit themselves, their health and their work/life balance.Flexible working
Flexible working is trending high in importance to UK workers and suggests that people are looking to tailor their professional lives and careers around their personal lives. Having a work/life balance is becoming more popular and as such will increase the amount of contractors or freelancer workers. Working as a LImited Company contractor or owning your own business provides more flexibility and adaptability which can be swapped for a long daily commute and mundane 9-5 routine.Higher pay benefits
When choosing to become a contractor or freelancer, you are giving yourself more of a chance to increase your pay or manage your pay as you want to. Rather than being on a salary that is static each month without the chance of overtime or pay increases, working as a contractors allows you to stipulate how much you earn in a month. If you’re looking to increase your monthly pay, you can look to take on more contracts. You can take on last minute projects if you have an unexpected bill turn up or alternatively, you can look to bigger companies or partners when you want to up your game and target bigger payers.Gender pay gap as a contractor
As the gender pay gap looks to continue throughout this year and has been highlight throughout the media in recent months, this is an area that can be managed more directly when working as a Limited Company contractor. As a female contractor, you can decide what rates to charge remaining competitive against other contractors in their sector with the same skills.Benefits of working with an Umbrella company
If you’re a contractor looking for the benefits of establishing your own workload and the freedom of being a contractor, along with the stability of having an employer behind you, working with an umbrella company could be the solution for you. Effectively you are employed by the umbrella company and they deal with all the payroll side of things, like payslips, tax and national insurance, ensuring that you get paid on time from each of your contracts. However you also have the added bonus that you’re entitled to move from contract to contract as you wish, take on as many assignments as you’d like to and have it all feed back into one central ground. Just as if you were employed, you’re entitled to statutory payments such as holiday and sick pay, meaning if you need to take time away with the family, you can do do with the assurance that you’re still going to be paid at the end of the month.So what is really important to you as a worker? Are you seeking a flexible working style where work/life balance is an important factor in your professional life? Or are you driven more by pay and what you can get out of your business to improve your personal life? Or perhaps it’s finding a balance between the two and finding a career path that suits your lifestyle and personal demands.
