Could I be prosecuted for this self employment mix-up?

Question

I'm only young, recently left school and therefore am very uneducated in the world of business! I was looking for work and I found a temporary spot for leaflet distribution in my local area through www.direct.gov.uk
The employment was only set up by email, I was simply asked to do leaflet distribution at 1 area throughout the week by email (no contract was signed and I wasn't sent any terms and conditions/guidelines or anything) I was simply following instructions by email. Also, It was called 'self employment' and I wasn't being supervised - I was only asked to supply them with picture evidence of me standing on site. When I have finished the requested amount of hours I was told to fill in a form. On this form it says:

SEE 'DISTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES' FORM FOR PAYMENT CONDITIONS AND GUIDELINES - Please
cover the area shown on the enclosed map. Please ensure the distribution is completed within the dates
given. You MUST return a completed 'STREET FORM' TO CLAIM YOUR PAYMENT.

and:

I hereby confirm the completion of the above distribution to each of the postcode
sectors allocated during the dates stated as per my contract, unless otherwise
shown above. I understand any falsification will result in my dismissal and possible
prosecution.

Finally, my problem is I haven't quite met my quota of working hours.. if I try and claim my pay as a full what are the chances I could be prosecuted?! Are there any "legal" issues I should be wary of. Could I get in a lot of trouble for lying here even though its self employed and no contract was signed?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

This is nothing whatsoever to do with a "self employment mix up".

This is simply whether you falsify what you have or have not done.



If you do and they find out then they can demand any payment back.



The "contract" you have is that you do xxx work for xxx money.

If you have not done it and claim you have then you are lying and they can revoke any agreement and, as I said, demand any payment be returned.

Answer 2

No, you can't be prosecuted, because you describe no criminal activity. If there is any, it is most likely to be your employer.



It is debatable if you are self-employed (you cannot be dismissed if you are). However, if you are paid without tax or NI deductions then you should declare it for tax. But if you earn less than c £8000 a year you pay no tax anyway, so if it's just pocket money it really doesn't matter.



I don't understand what you mean by quota of hours. You were taken on to do the task - how long it took is not relevant.



Best wishes.

Answer 3

Chances are you can't be prosecuted because it would be difficult for your "employer" to prove you didn't work the complete quota of hours. However, being dishonest, is really a bad precedent. If you're aware that you're not telling the truth, you obviously don't feel right about lying and cheating this company. So perhaps if you don't put in for getting paid for work you didn't do, you'll solve your problem and have nothing to worry about.



You should be honest in all your dealings with others and treat them the way you'd like to be treated yourself. What goes around, comes around and no matter how you try to justify cheating, it's still cheating and stealing. It's not right.