Consultancy work with ex-employer.

[FCBC12]

My soon to be ex-employer would like me to work on a consultancy basis from time to time going forward. It might not amount to much but they floated the idea of paying my current hourly rate is + 50% for any services rendered.

I'm not experienced with this type of transaction or whether the above offer is fair, so any advice would be appreciated.

For reference, this would not be my full time job, and any hours done would be outside of my normal working day.

 

[Salvadore]

It would depend on the circumstances.

For what reasons are you leaving the employment? Redundancy? Retirement?

Will you be seeking an alternative full time position?

If it’s redundancy for example, you would need to be sure it doesn’t affect your redundancy entitlements.

If you’re seeking alternative work, you would need to be confident it doesn’t conflict with the terms of employment of any new position.

Is it intended that the arrangement be casual/ad hoc or would it be provided for in some sort of contractual agreement?

Without knowing the specifics, my feeling is that you would still be an employee, albeit in much different terms and conditions. This might affect your redundancy entitlement.

The alternative to employee status is that you’re akin to a contractor, with all that that entails.

 

[FCBC12]

It would depend on the circumstances.

For what reasons are you leaving the employment? Redundancy? Retirement?

Will you be seeking an alternative full time position?

If it’s redundancy for example, you would need to be sure it doesn’t affect your redundancy entitlements.

If you’re seeking alternative work, you would need to be confident it doesn’t conflict with the terms of employment of any new position.

Is it intended that the arrangement be casual/ad hoc or would it be provided for in some sort of contractual agreement?

Without knowing the specifics, my feeling is that you would still be an employee, albeit in much different terms and conditions. This might affect your redundancy entitlement.

The alternative to employee status is that you’re akin to a contractor, with all that that entails.

I'm leaving my current employer due to the long commute I have each day, and WFH was not a viable option going forward.

This would not conflict with any terms at new employer, and work done would obviously be outside of that time.

The arrangement would be more ad-hoc and remote, and I suspect it would be short term (less than 1 year) and max 8 hours in a given week as that is all the time I could afford to it.

No experience with this type of arrangement so again, all advice and knowledge is appreciated.

 

[Salvadore]

In these circumstances, it’s just the conditions of employment that are changing (place and hours of work, rate of pay etc) and it’s in both parties interest to amend the contract of employment to reflect these changes. The employer should continue to provide you with a payslip, make necessary deductions etc. Part-time and casual have different entitlements in some areas relative to full time staff.

The employer might have a much looser arrangement in mind whereby he just pays you a fixed sum directly. In that circumstance, you would effectively be contracting and you be be personally responsible for payment of tax etc. Even in this circumstance, a written contract would be advisable.

From your own perspective, you might need to consider whether having a part time job would limit your opportunities for full time employment.