Q. I understand under the “part and parcel” that contractors should not be subject to performance reviews, and thankfully for myself this is the case.
However, I’ve been asked if I can give general feedback on an employee that I work alongside for their annual review/performance.
Would my assessment of an employee’s performance trigger the “part and parcel” rule or is it OK/valid to give honest feedback on people that I work with during my contract?
A. HMRC do not consider ‘part and parcel’ as a key IR35 test these days, however it still features within their IR35 Employment Status Manuals and is covered within HMRC’s online ‘Check Employment Status for Tax’ (CEST) test whereby it is asked ‘Does the Contractor have any ‘line management’ type duties? These include hiring and firing workers, delivering appraisals and discussing employees pay.’ It is important to remember however that CEST is simply a tool and is not mandatory.
Providing your opinion and giving feedback on other employees would not automatically deem you as part and parcel of the clients organisation, so long as you are not performing the appraisal, and the content of the appraisal is not solely based on your feedback. Additionally, it is important that you are not subject to such reviews, as this could prove problematic in the event of an investigation.
This answer is provided by Qdos Contractor.
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