[Petnanny]

I have spoken to 4 solicitors with regard to the above, and none of them can answer my simple question. As we do not employ our sitters, should we have to provide employers liability.

In desperation I called the tax office and they said as long as we do not employ our sitters, we should not be responsible!

Does anyone know who would be the right person to ask, since this seems a simple question, but one nobody can seem to answer!

[Indizine]

surely the title says it all - employers liability - therefore to me if you are not employing anyone you are not liable. Contracting with self employed people is not employment.

[Peter W]

Please don't rely entirely on what the tax office have told you. A working relationship could be classified as an employment for tax purposes, but as self-employment for employment law purposes. The tax office would only know about the tax angle. An employment law solicitor would be best placed to advise, but as every working relationship is different, there may not be a definitive answer. Have you got any sort of contract or agreement with the sitters?

[boxby]

Thinking logically, if someone sitting under your instruction gets bitten, are they going to try claiming against you? If so, then it may be worth getting cover.

We employ casual labour, through Manpower Agencies, and so we shouldn't need employer liability, as we're not the employer. But we have it anyway, just in case.

Are you a member of the FSB? They have a helpline which is really good for things like this.

[LisaTalkingTots]

Employers liability is only £35 extra pa for us ... may be worth doing until you've sorted this out.
L

[Petnanny]

Umm, as I said previously, I have spoken to various solicitors who are as unsure and I am!

If we were forced to take out employers liability, it would cripple us financially. We do have public liability, which is extremely costly.

Yes, we do have a contract with our sitters, which is a code of practice that they are expected to adhere to. However, we act as an introduction agency only, so we never see the client, their house or pets, so how could we be held accountable if a sitter was bitten?

Its all gobbledygook to me! Oh, and what is the FSB?

[Claire Bennett]

Its the Federation of Small Businesses. Might be worth getting in touch with your local branch. Have you had a quote for the extra Employers Liability and is it really astronomical?

I know you have had problems in the past trying to define whether your pet sitters are legally classed as employed and I agree that it must be very frustrating. Sorry to hear of your experience

[RedEvo]

These guys know their employment law.

d

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by RedEvo

These guys know their employment law.

d

Thanks RE - interesting site there

[PremierPDS]

Mmm, I was speaking to someone about something similar to this a few weeks ago. The guy in question owns a national cleaning company and he was telling me that he has self employed contractors whom he uses for his window cleaning and that due to a change in the law he can now be sued if one of them is injured on the job soley because they were instructed by him to do the said job. This didn't make any sense to me at the time as surely the window cleaners would have their own insurance but having spoken to a few others about it, apparently it's true. I should also mention that he stated that he properly and thoroughly risk asseses every job and gets the contractors to sign the assessments so he has a written record that they have agreed to carry out specific jobs in a certain and safe way so if anything should happen and they weren't following procedure he wouldn't be liable. I'm not sure what piece of legislation this comes from- I'll email him and try to find out.

Also, you could try ringing ACAS- they might be able to give you some more info or at least point you in the right direction of where to get the answers you're looking for.