IPSE backs BEIS call for Small Business Commissioner to fine late payers
IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) welcomes the Business, Energy and Industrial Select Committee’s (BEIS) call to allow the Small Business Commissioner to fine companies who pay freelancers late.
IPSE Senior Policy Advisor Jonathan Lima-Matthews commented: “While the Government is making a concerted effort to address the scourge of late payment, it does appear to be locked in a holding pattern of consultations on this blight on self-employment.
“IPSE research has shown freelancers spend an average of 20 days a year chasing late payments, with 43 per cent doing work they were not paid for at some point in their career.
“The situation is critical in the creative sector, where freelancers have been found to lose a staggering £5,400 a year on average.
“We agree with the BEIS Select Committee’s calls for the Small Business Commissioner to fine companies who pay freelancers late, and building on this, we urge the Commissioner to roll out his new ‘traffic light’ system to shine a light on bad practice.”