A-Z of Worker Help
We are currently building this section to provide links to official or otherwise reliable sources of information, help and support.
A disability is a physical or mental condition that can limit a person’s abilities. It is against the law in the UK for an employer to discriminate against a person because of their disability.
GOV.UK has a dedicated section on disabilities, giving information on the support available and rights of disabled people, including looking for work if you are disabled, disability rights, and specialist employability support.
In terms of other sources of support and guidance, Disability Rights UK have lots of help on employment for disabled people on their website, including a section of useful links and a series of work related factsheets. The NHS also has some useful information on work and disability.
Discrimination is the unfair treatment of a person because of who they are or characteristics they possess. It is against the law in the UK for an employer to discriminate against a person based on a number of ‘protected characteristics’.
Find information from GOV.UK, on the different types of discrimination and your right not to be discriminated against in work.
In addition, you can find information from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the work they do to enforce equality across England, Scotland and Wales.
Disguised remuneration (DR) schemes (such as Contractor Loan Schemes) are arrangements that pay workers in ‘non-taxable’ elements, such as loans, grants, investments payments, advances etc., instead of ordinary employment income, to avoid tax and NIC.
DR schemes may be run by non-compliant umbrella companies. As the use of such schemes can be driven by their own motivations, umbrella company workers need to be extremely careful not to become entangled in DR arrangements.
Some possible warning signs of DR schemes are:
o not receiving a payslip or receiving a payslip that shows a different ‘net’ amount to what you received;
o perhaps receiving more than one payment into your bank account each pay period; and
o information in your Personal Tax Account about your pay and taxes that does not match what you are being paid
· HMRC are trying to warn people about the risks of such schemes including through its ‘Spotlight series’ e.g.
o Tax avoidance promoters targeting returning NHS workers (Spotlight 54)