ESM11160 - Check Employment Status For Tax: Worker's contracts - Working time available

CEST asks: ‘Will this work take up the majority of the worker’s available working time?’ or ‘Will this work take up the majority of your available working time?’

CEST considers how much of a worker’s available working time the contracted services will take up. This is looking to understand how much time workers can commit to a single engager as well as how much time that workers might have available to do other work for other hirers. It should be noted that ‘working time available’ does not necessarily refer to the traditional 9 to 5 working hours. Someone with separate personal commitments may have less time ‘available’ to work but when they do work it takes up most of that time.

A worker works for one engager for 25 hours per week over the course of a contract. For the rest of their available time they can work 15 hours for others. They rarely do any more hours than this for personal reasons. This would fall within the ‘Yes’ category for CEST as the engagement takes up most of the available work time.

A worker works for one engager for 15 hours per week over the course of a contract and is only able to work another 10 hours, out of their available working time, due to their personal circumstances. Then this would fall within the ‘Yes’ category for CEST because the worker is spending most of their available time on this contract even though they are not working more overall hours.

A worker works for one engager for 15 hours per week over the course of a contact and the rest of their available time is 25 hours. In this instance, the contract does not make up for the majority of the available working time and would therefore fall within the ‘No’ category in CEST.

EXAMPLE

Curtis is a mechanic who works in his local garage. Outside of this garage work Curtis does other work for a MoT centre.

  • If Curtis usually works a 35 hour week, he does 25 at the garage and 10 at the MoT centre, then the work at the garage takes up the majority of his working time.
  • If Curtis usually works a 25 hour week, he does 15 at the garage and 10 at the MoT centre, then the work at the garage takes up the majority of his working time.
  • If Curtis usually works a 35 hour week, he does 15 at the Garage and 20 at the MoT centre, then the work at the garage does not take up the majority if his working time.