My employer has been phasing out permanent employees for a number of years and replacing them with “self-employed” employees on a rolling monthly contract. Your job role and responsibilities remain exactly the same, but classing you as self-employed allows the employer to avoid any eligibility for holiday pay, sick pay/leave or maternity pay/leave. There’s officially no job security but it’s well known that everyone is effectively treated as a permanent employee and your “self-employed” status is just a fiddle so they can save money by not paying any benefits. Nobody is happy about this but any job is better than none.

I’ve worked there for five years. When I told them I was pregnant my contract was abruptly “not renewed” at the end of the month, without notice or reason. I can’t even claim maternity pay on a self-employed basis because now that I no longer work there I’m no longer classed as self-employed. I’ve explored all avenues and it appears that I’m not eligible to claim a single penny from any source.