Orange Genie’s CEO Speaks Exclusively To IWORK
LinkedIn has been ablaze with allegations of umbrellas “skimming” money away from contractors, yet the company at the centre of it, Orange Genie, has so far been quiet on the subject. Julia Kermode spoke to their Chief Executive, Paul Bresnihan, to find out what exactly has been going on. Here’s what he had to say: […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Working Through An Umbrella Company? – 10 key phrases to understand
If you are new to umbrella working, you may be hearing lots of new words or phrases for the first time and not know what they mean. Here, Meredith McCammond from the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) explains some of the terminology used and provides you with a few practical tips on the way, […]
Crawford Temple from Professional Passport Discusses Holiday Pay Issues
Earlier this year allegations surfaced that some umbrella firms are wrongly withholding holiday pay from contractors. The story was highlighted by BBC Radio 4’s Moneybox programme and its impact was felt throughout the entire industry as all umbrellas came under suspicion for duping contractors out of money due to them. Crawford Temple is CEO of […]