Depends on a large amount of things, it may be, he is still working on behalf of the company, could be, he has (ALONG WITH OTHER EX/CURRENT) employees, been told he is being made to go self-employed, then, once the company becomes able to employ pepole again, he will no longer be required to work for himself as he will be employed by the company, with a fixed wage (unless it is comission based work). Is hard to give you an accurate answer without all the details. Maybe, your local citizens advice would be the best place to go, or call into your local job centre as advisors. I am not exactly sure as to if you qualify for legal aid,(advice from a solicitor) as he or she may be able to give you some advice which you would find useful.