Temps and Umbrella Workers Holiday Calculations May Change
An important ruling from the Supreme Court in Harpur Trust v Brazel means that the way in which holiday entitlement is calculated for temporary and umbrella workers may change. The case concerns the method of calculating holiday for a school music teacher (Mrs Brazel) who was engaged on a zero hours contract to work during […]
042 Holiday Pay For Temporary Workers – The Pimlico Plumbers Case
All workers in the UK have a statutory right to 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year, and as a temporary worker it’s doubly important to make sure you receive your right. So we’re chatting to legal expert and friend of the show Rebecca Seeley-Harris who sheds some much-needed light on the subject. Join us to […]
Umbrella Company Loses £11m Tax Tribunal
A tax tribunal has concluded that an umbrella company has a potential £11m liability due to their overarching contract not being one of employment. The case concerns Exchequer Solutions Limited which operates primarily in the construction industry. The tribunal focuses on tax deductible travel and subsistence expenses that were paid to their umbrella workers in […]
Holiday Pay Campaign For Redress Gathers Pace
Our friends over at Contractor Voice have stepped up their campaign against holiday pay being unfairly retained from temporary and contract workers by their agency or umbrella company. They are in talks with specialist lawyers to seek financial redress for affected workers, and formal legal action seems inevitable. The legal experts have confirmed that the […]
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 […]
Important Holiday Pay Development
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a worker can only lose the right to take paid leave within the holiday year when: The employer can show it specifically and transparently gave the worker the opportunity to take paid annual leave; The employer encouraged the worker to take paid annual leave; The employer informed the […]
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 […]
HM Treasury Want Umbrella Workers’ Views
In November, we reported on the government’s call for evidence on the umbrella sector which forms part of their commitment to bring umbrellas into scope for labour market enforcement. From the outset they stated a wish for input from umbrella workers, and HM Treasury has now issued a survey specifically for workers to submit their […]