helping you choose a compliant umbrella
The umbrella sector primarily exists to engage temps and contractors on behalf of the client that you work for. Despite the umbrella sector being worth almost £12bn in tax and NICs to HMRC, the government does not currently regulate the sector. This means that dubious umbrellas can get away with not paying you properly, and in some cases not paying HMRC properly meaning that you could receive a large tax bill in future.
This is unacceptable!
There are a number of umbrella compliance accreditations which seek to certify their members are adhering to their prescribed standards. However, these are not the quality seal of approval that you might expect. It is entirely possible for their members to operate legal practices which are unethical, and result in workers’ income being reduced.
This is unacceptable!
Our founder, Julia Kermode, has 10+ years experience in umbrella compliance, and from her direct experience she is acutely aware of the shortcomings of some umbrella accreditations. Whilst they do provide a useful benchmark, please remember to read all documentation very carefully when signing up to an umbrella. We have partnered with a number of umbrellas that you can find in our directory to give you a useful starting point.
If you want a rock-solid guarantee of compliance, we strongly recommend choosing an umbrella which is PayePass Verified.
Why do we recommend PayePass?
PayePass forensically audits what umbrellas do with the money that they receive in order to pay you. If an umbrella is involved in a scam, dubious practice, or scheme that puts you at financial risk, they will divert away some of funds before the money reaches their payroll process. PayePass scrutinises exactly where the money goes within the umbrella, and guarantees NONE of the following are taking place:
- Tax avoidance schemes
- Tax evasion schemes
- Mini-umbrella company fraud
- Holiday pay misconduct
- Payroll skimming
Their guarantee is backed by a unique £10m insurance policy. Importantly, 100% of payments made to workers are scrutinised so there is nowhere for an umbrella to hide their dodgy dealings. If PayePass discovers any serious wrongdoing when assessing an umbrella, the information is reported to HMRC.
By comparison, some other compliance checks consider a tiny sample of payroll payments. This is inadequate because just looking at payroll in isolation gives no assurances because anything could have happened to that money pre-payroll, meaning you could still be at risk. Proper scrutiny is needed, and all payments must be assessed not just a tiny sample.
In short, PayePass Verify is the only umbrella standard which ensures you will actually be paid what you should be.
