MPs have questioned FCSA about their handling of holiday pay allegations against one of their members, the recent amendment to FCSA’s code for umbrella members, and their previous refusal to answer questions on the subject. The letter, from the All Party Parliamentary Loan Charge & Taxpayer Fairness Group, asks the following:
- Why has no report been published following FCSA’s investigation into Workwell (previously JSA)?
- Was the investigation into Workwell’s conduct completed before or after they achieved re-accreditation?
- Were the “Holiday Acc Employment Costs Reserve” amounts referenced in payslips of the published evidence have been repaid?
- Would retaining the “Holiday Acc Employment Costs Reserve” effectively be an unlawful deduction from contractors’ pay?
- Were the allegations against Workwell an isolated incident, or are other contractors likely to be similarly affected?
This is a snapshot of what was asked, there are 16 questions in total which you can read in full here.
We know many of you are concerned about how you receive holiday through umbrella companies, so our summary focusses on points relevant to that.
Other issues raised by the APPG include their disappointment in FCSA’s unwillingness to engage, lack of accountability, and questions about FCSA’s governance.
Update 18 July 2022
A tweet from the Loan Charge & Taxpayer Fairness APPG twitter account suggests that FCSA has once again refused to answer their questions:
FCSA responded with a tweet stating “Unfortunately you appear to have excluded quite a lot of our actual response 🤷🏻♀️” and attached their email.
In their response, FCSA state that they would welcome a constructive relationship with the APPG, and they outline reasons for not answering the questions; namely “little faith that responses which may contain sensitive or commercially confidential material will remain private.”