Understanding Your Pay Rate Via An Umbrella
Understanding your pay as a temporary worker can be difficult at the best of times, let alone when you are paid via an umbrella company. There can be confusion over assignment rate vs your gross pay, plus confusion over employers NICs and other overheads. So we chat to Roy Beale who is an expert in […]
Umbrella sector, FCSA or otherwise, I’m here for you!
Julia Kermode writes an open letter to the umbrella sector We have all noticed the recent increasing negative attention on the umbrella sector due to the questionable practices of some. Indeed, I have called out some companies myself because I will not stand by and watch whilst contractors are duped out of their income due […]
Can Umbrella PSLs Be Good For Workers?
Over the last few months we have posted a few criticisms in relation to recruitment agencies’ preferred supplier lists of umbrellas, which restrict a worker’s choice of umbrella. In particular we are concerned about the obscene financial incentives underpinning some PSLs, and it seems that the person most affected by the decision is the one person […]
037 Why We Should Abolish Umbrella Preferred Supplier Lists
Temporary workers and contractors will often be required to be paid via an umbrella company and often recruitment agencies operate a preferred supplier list (PSL) of umbrella companies that their worker can choose from. In this episode, IWORK’s founder, Julia Kermode, discusses why she thinks umbrella PSLs should be abolished. She has proposed this as […]
Latest Umbrella Holiday Pay Rip Off: Evidence Published
Our friends over at Contractor Voice have published a body of evidence which confirms that one of the UK’s largest umbrella companies, Workwell (previously JSA Group), has deliberately withheld holiday pay from one of their umbrella contractors. In this instance, the contractor has had £2865.50 withheld and has written to JSA several times seeking for […]
Do We Really Think Contractors Can’t Decide For Themselves?
Last week I posted a few thoughts on LinkedIn in relation to my proposal to abolish umbrella preferred supplier lists (PSLs), which is just one of my recommendations to the government consultation on the umbrella market. I have many concerns about PSLs and how they operate today, and in some cases they are cartel-like in […]
Full Payroll Compliance Auditing for Umbrellas
A new service has been launched by PayePass which tracks and verifies the full journey of monies paid to an umbrella or outsourced payroll provider. Growing problem of skimming We have long been aware of scams taking place within the temporary workforce sector which is exacerbated by the lack of visibility over what happens to […]
Time To Get Rid Of Umbrella Preferred Supplier Lists?
In the wake of recent cyber-attacks, I was asked by a journalist last week what I would recommend to contractors who are considering changing their umbrella, so I found myself thinking about this properly for the first time in ages. Whereas previously my answer would have been to look for accreditation, it is clear to […]
Umbrella Workers – Check Your HMRC Record!
Important guidance released from HMRC – anyone working through an umbrella should check both their payslip and personal tax account to ensure that HMRC is receiving appropriate tax and NICs. This advice in itself is not new news (we have recommended these steps for years), but it is the first time HMRC has issued such […]