A day in the life of a Project Analyst supporting IR35 compliance

Grayce Analyst, Suzie Threlfall shares her experience support IR35 compliance at a leading Investment Management Organisation. 

What is your current assignment and what responsibilities do you have on client site?

I am currently working in the Resourcing Department in a Project Analyst and Support role for IR35, at a leading Investment Management Organisation. The main responsibilities include managing data for employee assessments, maintaining the projects action log, organising and rolling out training events, creating communication pieces for hiring managers/contractors and liaising with stakeholders to communicate the strategy for IR35.

Why is your assignment important?

The project is essential to ensure that my client are compliant with the new IR35 legislation which will come into effect in April 2020. The change in legislation requires medium to large sized private companies to be responsible for assessing the employment status of individuals who work for them through their own limited company. The assessment will ensure all contractors pay similar taxes and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) to equivalent employees. Failure to take ‘reasonable care’ would result in a corporate criminal offence and carry fines and reputational damage.

What is the most valuable thing you bring to your client?

I am able to contribute to the team by providing a fresh and non-bias outlook. By putting myself into the shoes of the managers, I am able to analyse and translate complex tax legislation and present this effectively across the organisation to ensure successful landing of all communications. My attention to detail ensures the relevant involvement of employees and my proactive attitude has enabled the achievement of significant project milestones and constructive project additions.

What has been your biggest achievement on client site?

With no background in tax I have been able quickly get to grips with complex tax legislation allowing me to play an instrumental part in setting up training sessions for hiring managers and I've only been at my client for three months.

What has been your biggest challenge on client site?

Data is always going to be challenging but I think in a large organisation where change is prevalent, particularly for the Resourcing Team, keeping this up to date is a challenge. However, every day I find that my expertise in data management, particularly using Excel, improves with more experience. My Grayce Mobilisation training and the LinkedIn learning courses I have access to through Grayce have been particularly useful in developing my knowledge and skills using Microsoft programmes.

Why do you think IR35 reforms are a challenge for your client?

My client has a big contingent workforce which has recently been subject to widespread organisational change after demerging from Prudential in October. Delivering this project, on top of the already dynamic environment, whilst minimising impact to delivery of work is a challenge. Furthermore, as this is a new change in legislation for the private sector there is no blueprint or template to work from and it can be seen that top organisations are taking very different approaches. My client have created their own bespoke process based on expert advice and research.

Why do you think your client uses Grayce Analysts?

The client has a preference for Grayce Analysts as they provide a source of talent in change who do not carry any risk to non-compliance of IR35. This is because all Grayce contractors are full time employees of Grayce, contributing to tax and NI whilst providing contracting services in change.

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