“A week is a long time in politics.”
UK Prime Minister 1964-70 & 74-76.
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Dental associates; workers or self-employed? The tide is turning…. from JFH lw
Posted on June 15, 2017 by Alun Rees
Laura Pearce, Senior solicitor at JFH law has written a an informative blog post on the changing position of associates in the eyes of HMRC.
Since the Central London employment tribunal handed down its decision in the Uber case on 28th October 2016, the courts have been awash with claimants seeking to gain worker status. Pimlico Plumbers and CitySprint have both had judgments against them, and claims against Deliveroo, Amazon Logistics and Hermes are all in the pipe line.
But how is this relevant to the dental profession?
Whilst associates enjoy self-employed status for tax purposes, this is an arrangement with HMRC; not the legal system. Since the Uber case it is clear the courts are cracking down on false self-employment and so dental practices need to be live to this issue.
Failing to identify a person’s status from the outset will be a costly mistake to make.
Here we take a look at the recent judgments in the Pimlico Plumbers and CitySprint cases and explain what impact they have on worker status in the dental profession.
To make sure you don’t wind up before the courts read on here.
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The Monday Morning Quote #423
Posted on June 12, 2017 by Alun Rees
On this day in 1964 Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment, during the Rivonia Trial Mr Mandela chose, instead of testifying, to make a speech from the dock and proceeded to hold the court spellbound for more than four hours. His speech, which was made at the beginning of the defence case, ended with the words:
“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Winnie Mandela, wife of African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, escorts his mother Nosekeni Fanny through a police cordon outside the court in Pretoria, South Africa, June 11, 1964, where he was a defendant in the treason trial. Mandela was found guilty on all four counts and together with six others, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Peter Ward exposes the NHS(E)’s “Cunning Plan”
Posted on June 9, 2017 by Alun Rees
Nice editorial in the BDJ from BDA Chief Exec Peter Ward. HERE
Edited highlights only
Death by commissioning
….That master plan looks like a determined effort to wrest away NHS dental care from small autonomous units. That model that has been supplied by a legion of conscientious practitioners ever since the beginning of the NHS. This applies both in salaried dental service and in general practice.…….
….’Savings’ is the name of the game. That coupled with ongoing ‘efficiency’ signals a race to the bottom, as each year becomes more and more squeezed than the last. It can’t be long before the social enterprises seek freedom from the obligations of NHS terms and conditions – think about the savings to be had there!…..
…..So, it is clear that the NHS in England stands to gain by ‘going large’ in all its areas of practice. But its gain is at the expense of the dentists who serve it. In essence, the wholesale dismantling of access to NHS terms and conditions provides the opportunity for savings. Proposing such a move overtly would be met with horror and outrage. Doing it stealthily and by downstream consequence may be less dramatic but the result is the same. It is not a good result for either dentists practising in England, or for patients expecting enduring, high quality care…
If only it was as easy to dismiss as Baldrick…
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The Monday Morning Quote #422
Posted on June 5, 2017 by Alun Rees
As The British & Irish Lions start their tour of New Zealand…..
“Rugby has always been a game for all shapes and sizes.
You have the superstars and the fast guys who score the tries, but you also need the workhorses and the people who play all the other roles.
Unless they all work together as a team then it’s really going to affect the performance. Everyone’s got to rely on everyone else.”
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The Monday Morning Quote #421
Posted on May 29, 2017 by Alun Rees
“Thinking is the hardest work there is,
which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.”
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No car….
Posted on May 25, 2017 by Alun Rees
Living at Rees Acres I/we would be stuck without car/s. This week I have been in Manchester seeing clients and attending the BDA Conference in my role as Branch President, I have stayed in Hulme in some excellent accommodation arranged via Airbnb, and either walked or “Ubered” – (with apologies to you sensitive souls who shudder at the turning of a noun into a verb).
I have often wondered about the point of car ownership, especially in the urban environment, and this posting from Bob Lefsetz made me realise how much city life is changing/has changed. OK, I know he’s talking about LA but how soon might these changes arrive?
……
And that’s when I ask her, DO YOU OWN A CAR?
SHE’S NEVER OWNED A CAR!
She’s got a driver’s license, but no, she sees no need for car, she’s got an Uber package. She pays ten bucks for a month of rides, twenty to be exact, and then it’s $6 if she takes UberX and $3 if she takes Uber Pool.
Huh? HOW COME I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THIS?
I dove deeper. She’s not committed to twenty rides, she’s just got to pay the ten bucks. And then she has the option of twenty rides, which she pays for as she goes.
WHAT IF YOU WANT TO GO TO THE BEACH?
No problem, she can go to the beach, she said she could go anywhere for $6.
And then I wondered why it paid to have an automobile at all.
WHAT ABOUT GROCERIES?
There’s a market on the corner.
And she has a bicycle, and…
Continues ….or read the full piece here..
You can fight the old wars or jump into the pool. You can complain about recording revenue, you can talk about piracy, bitch about Ticketmaster, or you can realize those issues are all in the rearview mirror, because today’s generations don’t care about them. They’ll pay for convenience, they’ll overpay if they desire something, they’re about building their lives as opposed to accumulating goods.
This is not only a sea change for generations…
This is a sea change for America.
First they came for our CDs.
Then they came for our retail stores.
Now they’re coming for all our assets, all the stuff we thought immutable and desirable, that we had to have. You might build a shrine to yourself online, but in the real world?
Forget about it.
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