041 Why do recruitment agencies have lists of preferred umbrellas?

Temporary workers and contractors are often required to choose an umbrella from a preferred supplier list (PSL) operated by their recruitment agency.  Some workers feel this restricts their choice, however many recruitment firms operate PSLs that are in workers’ best interests.  We wanted to learn more about PSLs from the agency perspective so chatted to […]

040 Should Temps & Contractors Be Able To Choose Their Umbrella?

Temporary workers and contractors are often required to choose an umbrella from a preferred supplier list (PSL) operated by their recruitment agency.  Today we’re talking to Paul Sheraton, an IT contractor who recently launched an official petition aiming to allow workers the right to choose their own umbrella rather than be restricted by preferred supplier […]

HMRC Warns Some Umbrellas Are Actually Tax Avoidance Schemes

According to an announcement issued by HMRC, some umbrellas are non-compliant and operate tax avoidance schemes; workers engaged by such firms risk huge future tax bills (e.g. the Loan Charge), whilst recruitment businesses engaging such umbrellas risk reputational as well as financial damage. According to HMRC, these schemes involve untaxed payments being made to workers […]

015 Routes to Market – Different Types of Contracts With Recruitment Agencies

If you’re completely new to finding work via a recruitment agency then you can be forgiven for being overwhelmed by the various contractual options you might be offered.  There is a confusing array of choice, and each one has different tax and employment rights implications.  To bring some clarity to a very confusing subject, we […]

011 Why is the recruitment industry often vilified, and does it matter?

Recruitment is often a vilified profession, much-maligned by candidates who feel they are poorly treated.  And as our audience (you!) consists of agency workers we thought we should examine why.  To help us do that, we spoke to Tim Jacob who has some 25 years experience as a recruiter and now advises recruitment firms on […]