HM Revenue Edward Troup &Customs HMRC Executive Chair 2cH9 100 Parliament Street London SW1A 280 The Rt Hon Frank Field MP House of Commons LONDON SW1A OAA www.gov.uk Date 10 October 2016 OurRef —CE/13889/2016 Deas Ys Feld Thank you for your letters of 12 and 23 September 2016 asking us to investigate the employment practices of Hermes UK. | apologise for the delay in responding to you. You are concerned about the employment status of Hermes drivers for tax and National Insurance purposes as well as payment of the National Living Wage (NLW) and pension contributions We have strict rules to ensure tax payer confidentiality so we cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual or company, or any investigations we carry out. Individuals cannot be opted out of employment rights, and protections, simply by calling them ‘self-employed We are committed to tackling false self-employment. If we find that companies have misclassified individuals as self-employed, we will take all necessary steps to make sure that they pay the appropriate tax, NICs, interest and penalties, Thank you for your report into working practices in the gig economy, and information from 20 individuals who are concerned about their employment status and rights. We have referred this information to the appropriate compliance teams for consideration. It is possible to be self-employed for tax purposes, but still be classed as a worker for National Minimum Wage (NMW). Information is available in large print, audio and Braille formats. Text Relay service number — 18001If anyone has concerns that they are a worker, and are not receiving the correct minimum wage for the hours they work they should contact ACAS on| This will allow us to contact them, to gather further information. They can also contact our Employment Status Helpline to report any concerns about Tax or National Insurance on| We assess every complaint made through the ACAS helpline for NMW compliance, and always take action where we believe an employer is not paying its workers the NMW or NLW that they are legally entitled to. Although ACAS will ask for personal details, complaints can be handled anonymously. | hope you find the above information useful. Yours sincerely ~~ beg it EDWARD TROUP EXECUTIVE CHAIR