Where a worker has a history of working otherwise than in an employment relationship, their total length of service will include any periods of self-employment, work under contracts for services or commercial agency contracts, but also any periods when they were engaged in, inter alia:

• creative or artistic activities,
• professional services, 
• babysitting services (under an "activation contract"),
• as shareholder in a single-member LLC or partner in a registered partnership, limited partnership or limited liability partnership.

The periods counted include those when the person's national insurance contributions were paid and those when they were exempt from the contributions under other laws (students, start-up relief). The current proposal does not allow for employment history to include periods of work under a contract of enterprise.

According to the proposal, any employment-related rights the workers may have due to the new periods of work being included in their length of service will vest as of the effective date of the new law, which is scheduled to be 1 January 2026. Such a long delay is needed for employees to provide national insurance certificates and for employers to make length-of-service computations according to the new rules and perhaps also to amend their company policies.

Find more in the PRO HR July 2024.