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Yesterday Lawspeed held a face to face seminar to discuss the current consultation on modernising the agency work regulatory framework. Joined by two policy representatives from the Department of Business and Trade the meeting rapidly developed into a broader discussion. “We had anticipated strong comments, but the depth of feeling in the room was staggering” […]
Transfer fee restrictions – should they stay or should they go? No consideration of this subject can be complete without recognising the government’s plan to introduce guaranteed hours for supply workers, included in the Employment Rights Act 2025. Put simply if you supply a contractor to a client and there is a law in place […]
With 6th April just around the corner it’s worth looking at what labour supply businesses should have in place to reduce the risk of HMRC claims under the new tax rules for umbrella company payments. To be clear, under the new joint and several liability rules, liability arises where a business contracts with an umbrella […]
Recruitment regulation may be about to change in ways that could directly affect how agencies charge fees, contract with clients, and work with contractors. The government is currently reviewing the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations – the core rules that govern how recruitment businesses operate in the UK. For many agencies, these […]
Late shift cancellation used to be frustrating. Now, thanks to changes to statutory late notice cancellation compensation, it’s potentially expensive. Under changes linked to the Employment Rights Act (ERA), agencies may be required to compensate workers where temporary assignments or shifts are cancelled or curtailed at short notice. The problem? In most cases, it isn’t […]
On 14 January, we brought recruiters together for a focused session on what 2026 is already delivering: guaranteed hours proposals, joint and several liability, Conduct Regulation reform, and the expanding powers of the Fair Work Agency. The feedback? Strong. Direct. And telling. The common theme wasn’t panic. It was clarity.Recruiters left with a sharper understanding […]
Not because the rules suddenly changed overnight. But because multiple reforms are landing at once, and together, they are exposing weaknesses in recruitment contracts, supply chains and commercial assumptions that have been quietly tolerated for years. If you look at each reform in isolation, it may feel manageable. Taken together, 2026 represents the most significant […]
HMRC has warned of new fraudulent models emerging in the market, claiming to reduce employment costs through ‘tax credits’ offset through acquired third-party businesses. Disguised as payroll providers, intermediaries, umbrella solutions, or back-office providers, they assert to use tax credits to offset employment taxes such as PAYE and National Insurance by operating the payroll thereby, […]
The industry’s been rightly focused on the joint and several liability risks under Chapter 11 of the Finance Bill, but there’s another serious consequence baked into this legislation, and it’s flying under the radar. We’re talking about TUPE transfers. At first glance, it may not look like much. But for agencies who’ve historically used umbrella […]
Proposed changes to umbrella legislation, particularly the Joint and Several Liability (JSL) rules under Chapter 11, set for April 2026, are already reshaping behaviour across the recruitment supply chain. But while most conversations focus on PAYE and NICs liability, a quieter, more powerful risk is emerging: perception. Perception influences decisions long before legislation does, and […]
