Read on Twitter
Going to get into this a bit now.
The 'Conspiracy of Silence' around bogus self employment and the vulnerability of journalists (and presenters).
read on .... https://twitter.com/williamhboney1/status/1335542200617275398
The 'Conspiracy of Silence' around bogus self employment and the vulnerability of journalists (and presenters).
read on .... https://twitter.com/williamhboney1/status/1335542200617275398
Let's start with Seamus Dooley. Irish Secretary at National Union of Journalists.
Seamus was one of the witnesses at the Oireachtas Committee looking at Bogus self Employment last year. The Committee was part of the permanent Social Welfare Committee but was not,
Seamus was one of the witnesses at the Oireachtas Committee looking at Bogus self Employment last year. The Committee was part of the permanent Social Welfare Committee but was not,
in itself, a permanent committee. The Bogus Self Employment Committee was ready to sign off on its report of the year's proceedings this time last year ..... but .... the govt was dissolved and the report lies there, unsigned and gathering dust. It would take very little from
the current Social Welfare Committee members to take ownership of the Bogus Self Employment Committee and Report, sign off on it, and release it. AFAIK, only @JoanCollinsTD has been pushing for this to happen.
Seamus Dooley foretold that it would be swept under the carpet when
Seamus Dooley foretold that it would be swept under the carpet when
he spoke at the Bogus Self Employment committee last year, and how right he was -
The way it works in many media orgs is that the journalist is offered a job but the job is dependent on the journalist agreeing to be called bogus self-employed.
There is a huge imbalance of power, a coercive control of the worker. More from Seamus
There is a huge imbalance of power, a coercive control of the worker. More from Seamus
Bogus Self Employment in media is not accidental or occasional, it is actually the model upon which thies organisations are built. Apart from the organisations, both the Dept. Social Welfare and Revenue are quite content to facilitate it -
"Weak and Vulnerable" is not a description many of us associate with journalists, but when it comes to bogus self employment, journalists are just as weak and vulnerable as any other section of workers -
Seamus particularly singled out the National Broadcaster @rte for criticism and again, Seamus was entirely correct.
Back in 2017, @boucherhayes with @drivetimerte highlighted the issue of bogus self employment in @rte https://www.thejournal.ie/rte-bogus-self-employment-3673016-Oct2017/
Back in 2017, @boucherhayes with @drivetimerte highlighted the issue of bogus self employment in @rte https://www.thejournal.ie/rte-bogus-self-employment-3673016-Oct2017/
Their is a responsibility on @RTE to ensure that all of its workers are correctly classified as employed or self-employed based on the precedents and case law handed down by the courts.
Self-employment is not a matter of what either the employer or the worker 'wants' or is
Self-employment is not a matter of what either the employer or the worker 'wants' or is
'happy' to be labeled, one must fit the legal criteria. The policing of the application of the correct employment status falls entirely on the Department for Social Welfare.
However, it was not the Department of Social Welfare who was called in by @deeforbes_dee to carry
However, it was not the Department of Social Welfare who was called in by @deeforbes_dee to carry
out a review of employment status in @rte, instead, a private law firm, Eversheds Sutherland carried out a review with a very limited scope.
The result was that 81 people, who had been labeled as self-employed by @rte, were offered new 'employee' contracts.
The result was that 81 people, who had been labeled as self-employed by @rte, were offered new 'employee' contracts.
Couple of very important things about this 'review'. It concentrated on the lower paid workers, technical and support workers. The review was limited in both where it was looking and how far back it was looking, and yet - 81 bogusly self employed workers.
Why the Department of
Why the Department of
Social Welfare allowed a private law firm encroach on its mandated responsibility is no great mystery. The Dept. of Social Welfare can not be limited in where or how far back it would have to look if they actually got up off their arses and did what they are meant to do. That
the Department of Social Welfare did not (Nor still hasn't even after the private review) carry out a full investigation, allowed @rte to offer derisory low paid employment contracts to the 81 workers they exploited through bogus self employment.
Had the Dept carried out the
Had the Dept carried out the
investigation, @rte would be issued with 81 'Demand Notices' to repay all the employers PRSI which had been evaded through bogus self employment from year dot and Revenue would be obliged to pursue outstanding taxes.
The failure of the Dept to act means @rte faced no sanction
The failure of the Dept to act means @rte faced no sanction
or penalty for deliberately exploiting workers and evading employers PRSI.
Once is a mistake, 81 times is model of evasion and considering the number would undoubtedly far higher if a proper investigation were carried out, there can be no doubt that bogus self employment is, as I
Once is a mistake, 81 times is model of evasion and considering the number would undoubtedly far higher if a proper investigation were carried out, there can be no doubt that bogus self employment is, as I
said earlier, is the model upon which @rte is built.
@rte is not alone in using this model. It is practically impossible to find a media organisation which is not dependent on some form of bogus self employment. In many media organisations, bogus self employment is a precursor
@rte is not alone in using this model. It is practically impossible to find a media organisation which is not dependent on some form of bogus self employment. In many media organisations, bogus self employment is a precursor
to actual employment status.
So why aren't you hearing more about this from journalists and media workers?
In a word, FEAR.
Thank you for reading.
So why aren't you hearing more about this from journalists and media workers?
In a word, FEAR.
Thank you for reading.
Highlights of Bogus Self Employment Committee hearings from 2019.
Thanks to the #tortoiseshack for putting this together, you can support here http://patreon.com/tortoiseshack
The Billion Euro Fraud
Thanks to the #tortoiseshack for putting this together, you can support here http://patreon.com/tortoiseshack
The Billion Euro Fraud
