Working as a locum Vet post IR35

In this post we will be discussing working as a locum vet now the IR35 Legislation has gone through, and what this means for locum vet jobs in the UK. Firstly let’s briefly restate how the IR35 legislation affects vets and nurses in the private sector.

1. The veterinary groups have taken the same stance on the legislation. As a result almost all locums are deemed to be ‘Inside’ IR35
2. As a result locums are unable to work via their PSC’s (Personal service companies) / Ltd companies
3. This means that they have to work via an umbrella company and are liable for employees and employers NI as well as PAYE and the umbrella companies weekly fee
4. Another option is to work for the group on the books via a zero hour contract
5. Most Independent practices will be deemed ‘Small businesses’ and therefore are exempt from the legislation. Therefore you are still able to use your Ltd company

Now we are clear on what it is how has the affected the UK market since April 6th 2021?

Firstly it’s increased the bias of locums wanting to work for independent practices where they are outside of the legislation. Great news for all the independents out there ?

It has caused a huge backlog in the availability of locums for the corporate sector. Thus putting strain on existing veterinary teams as practices are unable to cover sickness, holidays, maternity and interim cover.

Locum vets have increased their daily rates to compensate for the increase in tax liability.  Some are leveraging this to rather exorbitant proportions causing a lot of discontent with practices having to foot the bill.

Post IR35- Where to go from here?

With the estimated global population of locum vets in the UK veterinary profession estimated to be over 40%.  Additionally factors such as Brexit and Covid-19 are making it far more difficult to work in the UK this has left a large hole in the workforce. As a result there has never been so many locum vet jobs available. We feel that until these international locum vets and nurses come back on stream that this shortage is not going recede . As more restrictions are lifted with vaccination roll out gathering momentum there is light at the end of the tunnel. One thing is for sure we at GLG will be continuing to work as hard as we can to alleviate that shortage as much as possible.

For more information check out the HMRC website.  https://www.gov.uk