A new service for all contingent workers – agency workers, temps, gig workers, freelancers and contractors – is launching today. Called IWORK, the new enterprise is the brainchild of Julia Kermode, who was CEO at leading membership body The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association for almost 7 years. That experience equipped her with the expert knowledge and passion she will bring to her new role to support the UK’s independent workforce.
IWORK provides a free toolkit of valuable resources and expert podcasts with the aim of helping independent workers to better understand and navigate the whole business of being self-employed. Resources include information on setting up as a freelancer, tips on running a business, finding work as well as educating its audience about their rights and providing information on self-employed pensions, mortgages and insurance policies.
Commenting on the new venture, Julia Kermode, CEO and founder of IWORK said: “I am delighted and excited to be announcing the launch of a new enterprise dedicated to helping the UK’s flexible workforce to navigate the workplace and better understand the business of independent working. Over the last few years, the Government has introduced a number of measures that have had a profound impact on this valuable group of workers and it is often very confusing. Nurses want to nurse, teachers want to teach and graphic designers want to design. Legislation often gets in the way of allowing them to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. IWORK has been set up to put all types of independent workers first so that they truly feel they have a representative voice working with them and for them so that they are recognised, supported and heard.
“Today, as we learn to live and work in a new normal with the impact that Covid-19 has inflicted on us, an increasing number of people are considering new ways of working and many businesses are turning to flexible freelance resources to help them. In fact, REC’s Jobs Outlook recently highlighted that ‘this quarter, more than half (53%) of employers who hire agency workers said that they use them to help manage uncertainty. This was notably higher than a year earlier (39%)’.
“So, with more people opting to work for themselves, they need to know how self-employment works or else they could risk being exploited by not knowing their rights. IWORK champions this way of working as it brings enormous benefits to both parties and we look forward to sharing our valuable resources that we hope will become an essential toolkit for the growing flexible workforce.”
