Multi-site self-employed workforce
Running a multi-site self-employed workforce: one file, many sites
Keep one record per person, shared by every site, and keep only the day-to-day work local: the rota, the equipment or vehicle used that day, and site checks. Tag each person and each piece of work by site and client, so the pay run, the expiry view and the audit file can be filtered by site without anyone holding a second copy. A second site should mean a second set of rotas, not a second spreadsheet of people.
Operational guidance, not legal or tax advice. Couriers are one example; the same pattern applies to cleaning, facilities, care and field-service teams. Last reviewed 15 October 2026.
When a second site is justified
A second site is an operational decision, not an admin one. Typical triggers:
- travel time from the first site makes it hard to reach work in time for client collection times or cut-offs
- a client wants a local address or a different collection or start time
- the extra work is still there after a seasonal peak
If the only change is more work at the same address, stay on one site and fix the rota. For the capacity side of that decision, see the capacity planning guide.
What stays central: one record per person
Anything about the person, rather than the day's work, should exist once:
| Kept once, centrally | Why |
|---|---|
| Identity and contact details | One person, one record |
| Driving licence record, insurance and qualifications, with expiry dates | Every site sees the same expiry |
| Right to work check records, including for individual subcontractors who personally do work you have contracted to provide, for engagements from 1 October 2026 | Checked and recorded once, kept for the engagement and 2 years after it ends |
| The agreement and its status assessment notes | The engagement is with your business, not with a site |
| Self-billing agreement, UTR and VAT details, bank details | The pay run uses one set of details |
| The audit log of who checked what and when | One trail, whichever site did the check |
A person who works from two sites should not be onboarded twice. Duplicate copies also drift: one site updates an insurance date, the other does not. The UK GDPR requires personal data to be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary, and kept accurate; one shared record is easier to keep that way than copies per site.
Where the extra people come through another firm, use the subcontractor onboarding checklist and keep that firm's file once.
What stays local: the day's work
Each site owns what happens there:
- The rota. Offer work per site, record what was accepted, and show which site each person attends. Our rota planning guide covers offering work and recording answers.
- Equipment and vehicles. The van, scanner or kit someone uses that day belongs to the site's records, including any walkaround or condition check.
- Site access. Gate codes, keys and site inductions are local, and need removing locally when someone stops working there.
- Cover. Relief and substitutes are usually arranged per site. See managing substitutes.
Operator licences and sites
If you operate goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, you will usually need a goods vehicle operator's licence, and each place where those vehicles are normally kept when not in use must be listed on it as an operating centre. Adding a site may therefore mean changing your licence. Vans over 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes used to carry goods for hire or reward in Europe also need a standard international licence. Check the goods vehicle operator licensing guide and the guidance on transporting goods in Europe in vans before you open a site.
Tag everything by site and client
Tags are what let one file serve many sites. Tag each person with the sites they work from, and each piece of work with the site and the client or network it was for. Then:
- the pay run can be filtered by site and client without splitting the person's record
- each site manager can see the expiry dates for people who work there
- the audit file can be produced for one site or for the whole business
A tag is a filter, not a plan. It does not decide who works where; the rota records the work each person has accepted at each site.
Pay runs across sites
Self-billing is between your business and each supplier, not between a site and a supplier. VAT Notice 700/62 requires a written self-billing agreement with each supplier before you self-bill them, so one agreement per supplier covers work at every site. Build the invoice from the work record across all sites, then filter the run by site for your own reporting. Our self-billing for subcontractor pay runs guide covers the agreement and invoice rules, and self-billing software shows how the pay side fits.
An example week
This is an illustration, not a customer. Site North and Site South are labels.
- Monday. A self-employed driver accepts work at Site North for one client. Their licence record, insurance and agreement sit once.
- Wednesday. They accept work at Site South for a different client. Same record. The van they use that morning belongs to Site South's checks.
- Friday. One self-billed invoice is raised from the week's work across both sites. The pay run is filtered by site and client for reporting.
Moving a live pay run onto a new site, or onto a new system, needs a dated go-live. A live pay run does not switch over in a day.
The weekly and audit rhythm across sites
Each site runs the same weekly loop from the weekly ops checklist: availability, offers, work record, documents due, pay. Centrally, someone owns the shared record and the audit trail described in our record-keeping guide. When someone stops working at one site but continues at another, remove only that site's access and rota entries; when they stop altogether, follow the offboarding checklist.
Whether anyone is self-employed depends on the facts of the arrangement, not on how many sites they work from. See GOV.UK's employment status guidance and HMRC's CEST tool.
Common mistakes
- A spreadsheet per site, each with its own copy of the same person
- Onboarding someone again when they start at a second site
- Separate self-billing agreements per site for the same supplier
- Expiry dates updated at one site and not the other
- Leaving site access live after someone stops working at that site
How Zerity helps
Zerity is one operating system for compliance and operations across your self-employed workforce, and the operations hub is built around one account across sites:
- One account covers every site, with people tagged by depot and network.
- Zerity stores the licence record, the date it was checked and the expiry. The operator remains responsible for the licence check. It is an offence to cause or permit someone to drive without the right licence. Every licence and policy expiry date is tracked in one place.
- The rota is published to the driver app, and days worked feed the self-bill. See scheduling.
- The self-billing agreement is stored, invoices are raised from the agreed rate and days worked, and the PDF is kept. The software does not make the arrangement compliant on its own.
- UTR and VAT details sit on the record.
Zerity does not plan routes between sites and does not decide anyone's employment status. See compliance software for self-employed workforces and, for courier operations, subcontractor driver management. Zerity is free for operators.
Book a demo to see your sites on one account.
Sources
- Employment status, GOV.UK.
- HMRC, Check employment status for tax (CEST), GOV.UK.
- HMRC, Self-billing (VAT Notice 700/62), GOV.UK.
- UK GDPR, Article 5, legislation.gov.uk.
- Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, section 14A, legislation.gov.uk.
- Home Office, Right to work checks: an employer's guide, GOV.UK.
- Goods vehicle operator licensing guide, GOV.UK.
- Transport goods in and out of the UK using vans or car and trailers, GOV.UK.
Questions
Can one self-employed person work from two sites?
Yes, if your arrangement with them allows it. Keep one record for the person, shared by both sites, and let the rota show which site they attend on each day.
Do I need a separate pay run for each site?
No. You need a pay run you can filter by site and client. VAT Notice 700/62 requires a written self-billing agreement with each supplier, so one agreement per supplier covers work at every site.
What should a site manager be able to see?
The people who work at their site, their expiry dates, the site rota and the site's equipment and vehicle checks. They do not need their own copy of each person's file.
Does working across several sites affect someone's employment status?
Status depends on the facts of the whole working relationship, not on the number of sites. Use GOV.UK's employment status guidance and HMRC's CEST tool, and remember that courts and tribunals can make final decisions.
Does a live pay run move to a new site in a day?
No. A live pay run does not switch over in a day. Agree a dated go-live.