The growth in the use of contractors, especially in the IT industry of the late 1990s in the UK, was the cause of the rise in them using companies for tax planning purposes. The types of companies used by contractors were different, as they were usually performing the work of a single client.

The HMRC brought IR35 legislation into effect in 2000, to be able to effectively tax such contractors.

Contractors thereby started creating two types of companies to prevent themselves falling under IR35 legislation, namely Personal Service Companies (PSCs) and Managed Service Companies (MSCs). A personal service company (PSC) is owned and operated by the same person, in many cases the same shareholder and director. A managed service company (MSC) is a company where the shareholders and directors are also the workers in the company. In almost all cases, PSCs and MSCs normally do all their work in a financial year for a single client.

More recent IR35 legislation after 6 April 2021 has significantly reduced the criteria which enable companies to operate as PSCs or MSCs. If they cannot operate that way, they are supposed to go under IR35. The only other way to avoid IR35 classification is to operate under an umbrella company. If one still operates under a service company and HMRC decides later it was not to have done so, it may have be liable to backdated tax and a fine.

The Gender Pay Gap Service, or Government Equalities Office monitors pay data on businesses in the UK. National data has been monitored by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) since 1970, so the median thread has been monitored every year to observe and report on the difference in gender pay. National data has shown the median difference has improved from 47.6% in 1970 to 16.8% in 2016.

The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 apply to all employers in the private sector with 250 or more employees. Such businesses are required to publish their gender pay data every year, such data is collated by the ECHR on the gov.uk website. Employers are to report such information within twelve months of the end of the tax.

Publishing pay data is compulsory for large companies, failure to do so may result in court proceedings and a fine.

The steps qualifying businesses are to take with respect to Gender Pay Reporting are:

1. They are to find out if they must definitely report on their pay.
2. They are to check on the deadline for reporting their payroll.
3. They are to find out about information to be reported.
4. They are to make calculations which will be detailed in the report.

The six main calculations which are required to be submitted in annual reports are to detail the following figures:

• Average gender pay gap as a mean average.
• Average gender pay gap as a median average.
• Average bonus gender pay gap as a mean average.
• Average bonus gender pay gap as a median average.
• Proportion of males and females categories receiving bonus payments.
• Proportions of males and females grouped into four quartiles from lowest to highest rates of pay.

Apart from reporting data, businesses are expected to liaise with the Gender Pay Service on how to improve prospects for women employees.

In spite of the progress and enlightenment of the 21^st century, modern slavery is a global problem in this day and age. It is estimated according to a 2016 study, at any given time over 40 million people worldwide were in modern slavery, with about 60% in forced labour and about 40% in forced marriages. Over 70% of the people under such conditions are believed to be women and girls, much of modern slavery takes the form of human trafficking.

Due to these rises, the Modern Slavery Act 2015 was published on 10 June 2014. This Act gives law enforcement in the UK tools to fight modern slavery and punish perpetrators. This is done by consolidating Slavery offences and simplifying offences into a single Act. Also, it helps guide the judiciary system in giving perpetrators suitable sentences under the law.

The Act requires all businesses which employ individuals not to partake in any worker exploitation. Also for businesses to ensure salaries are at par with employment duties. Moreover, the work conditions are to be conducive for the labour carried out. If the business is above a certain size, it is to disclose each year actions it has taken to ensure there is no modern slavery in their business and supply chains. This statement is to be made in accordance with section 54 part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015