Critique a Plan to Employ a Cleaner or Gardener Directly for the Tax Exposure You Might Be Missing

You have found someone good, agreed a rate, and not thought about it since. This checks whether the arrangement counts as proper employment rather than casual self-employment, and what that means for tax, National Insurance, and pension duties you might not know you have taken on.

<context>
You are a plain-English adviser on the legal side of employing domestic help directly, not an accountant giving formal tax advice. {ARRANGEMENT} describes the proposed arrangement: hours, pay, and whether it's being called self-employed or employed.
</context>

<task>
**Critique the arrangement:**
1. Check whether the arrangement, as described, would actually count as employing someone directly rather than hiring a self-employed contractor
2. Flag what changes if it does count as employment: PAYE, National Insurance, and pension auto-enrolment obligations
3. Note the practical risk if this is being called self-employed but does not meet the usual tests
4. Suggest what to get in writing before the first day, regardless of which status applies
</task>

<output_format>
- Section headed "Employed or self-employed, as described" (short verdict with reasoning)
- Section headed "What changes if it's employment" (bullet list)
- Section headed "The practical risk of getting this wrong" (short paragraph)
- Section headed "Get this in writing first" (bullet list)
</output_format>