18 Apr How To Get the Most out of Your Partnership With an Umbrella Company
As a recruiter you’ll understand the importance of building business relationships that last. One of the most important elements in these partnerships is trust, especially when it comes to other people’s money. When you partner with an umbrella company, it’s your responsibility to ensure that the company you choose offers you the highest levels of service, both to you and to the contractors you represent. Here we look at what you can do to get the most out of your partnership with an umbrella company.
Umbrella company benefits
An umbrella company should benefit both you and your contractors and it must act compliantly and with integrity in order to protect your professional reputation as well as the finances of your contractors and clients.
An umbrella company can benefit you and your contractors in two very distinct and important ways. Let’s look at each of them in turn.
What can an umbrella company do for my recruitment agency?
The first thing that an umbrella company can do for your recruitment agency is to handle your payroll services in an efficient and compliant manner. Perhaps your volume has increased recently and your own payroll department is struggling to cope? Or maybe you’re looking to create efficiencies in these cost-of-living-crisis times? The best umbrella companies cost less than you might think, and will enable you to save money on additional payroll staff, reducing your costs even further.
Partnering with an umbrella company can also solve your organisational and administrative problems quickly and efficiently, by using its expertise to deal with those things, leaving you free to concentrate on your core business. Be sure to ask any prospective partners about the support they offer – ask if they have trained and knowledgeable customer service staff who are available to answer any questions you might have.
Your umbrella company should also be an expert on tax matters, so that you can operate within the law and remove any liability. Ask if they’re up-to-date in issues such as IR35 reform, Agency Worker Regulations, Travel and Subsistence Legislation and GDPR – their response to these questions will tell you whether they’re operating legally or are running a fraudulent tax-avoidance scheme which could leave you criminally liable.
All these things give you a competitive advantage over other agencies who may not already have an umbrella arrangement in place, increasing your profit potential and enhancing your reputation as a trusted and reliable employment partner.
What can an umbrella company do for my contractors?
When one of your contractors signs up to an umbrella company it becomes their employer – this means that your contractor has full peace of mind in every aspect of their employment as well as many other benefits that ‘traditionally’ employed people already enjoy.
The first, and most important of these is a record of continual employment which is vital when people are looking to take out a mortgage or arrange a loan. As an umbrella company is the contractor’s employer, regardless of who the end client is, they can be confident that their employment details as well as their record of paying the correct tax and NI will be available for when they need it – making their lives easier.
Contractors also have access to a wide range of statutory benefits such as pension auto-enrolment and holiday pay, and of course, a compliant umbrella will deal with the contractor’s income tax and NI payments freeing them from complex and time-consuming administration. They will also be covered by statutory Employer’s and Public Liability Insurance and, in some specific instances, Professional Indemnity Cover for complete reassurance.
The best umbrella companies will also offer quick and easy registration, followed by prompt payment – a crucial ingredient these days when everyone is watching their outgoings. And check to see if a potential partner offers your contractors a payment tracking system and SMS & email notification of payments, so they can get up-to-the-minute updates, or their own dedicated app to simplify their lives even further. Finally, make sure that any umbrella company you suggest to your contractors has a fully-responsive and dedicated support team available to answer any questions they may have.
If you’re putting together your PSL or are considering changing your umbrella company for one that offers a better service to both you and your contractors, call us on 0800 084 3058, email us at help@i4services.uk or drop us a message here.