"HMRC steps up inquiry into employment status of Hermes couriers", 3 May 2017

HM Revenue & Customs has stepped up its investigation into the delivery company Hermes classifiying its couriers as self-employed, while the business has also been hit with an employment rights lawsuit from the GMB trade union. Drivers for Hermes were sent letters from HMRC over the weekend asking them to provide evidence as the tax authority looks into their employment status. In the letter, seen by the Guardian, HMRC requests that the drivers disclose information such as their written contract and payslips, and agree to a one-hour interview. “This will help us decide what your employment status is/was,” it says. HMRC’s investigation follows one by the Guardian that found some self-employed couriers were being paid less than the national living wage", in an arrangement the company said had been approved by HMRC. Separately, GMB has filed a lawsuit challenging Hermes over employment conditionsfor its couriers, vowing to battle “bogus self-employment and gig economy exploitation”...