ESM11110 | Check Employment Status For Tax: Financial Risk - Payment

CEST asks ‘How will the worker be paid for this work?’ or ‘How will you be paid for this work?’

We ask this question to determine if you have a significant financial risk due to the way you receive payments. If that could result in you making a loss from the contract this would be an indication of self-employment.

For further guidance on the financial risk questions see ESM11085 and for further guidance on the payment method see ESM0542.

The way a worker is paid is often the same for both the employed and self-employed. However, some methods of payment may be more indicative of self-employment for example, paid as a percentage of the hirer’s profits.

Where payment received is through commission only and the individual must fund significant expenses with no reimbursement from the hirer, this may point towards self-employment.

Workers can be paid in multiple ways from the same hirer. For example, a worker may have a daily rate but also get a percentage of sales generated. If this is the case, then whatever the main source of income is should be selected in CEST.