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 […]
SSP Is Changing in 2026, And It’s Going to Hit Agencies Harder Than They Expect Most recruiters think of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) as background admin — inconvenient, yes, but predictable.April 2026 will challenge that assumption. Under the Employment Rights Bill, SSP rules are changing in ways that will affect every employer, including employment businesses […]
Since the introduction of the Chapter 10 tax rules (IR35) agencies and hirers have faced tax risks when engaging limited company contractors (PSCs) except where the client is a small company (as defined). Many shifted to working with umbrella companies as a result. However, the environment is once again set to become tougher. Where you […]
The umbrella liability law: what’s changing? The government has released draft legislation that will introduce joint and several (J&S) liability for PAYE tax and, soon, NICs where a qualifying umbrella company is involved in the recruitment supply chain. From 6th April 2026, if your agency works with an umbrella company that fails to account for […]
The Employment Rights Bill will soon pass into law, soon followed by regulation of the umbrella sector, impacting the current umbrella model as we know it.
The government has now published its plans for applying proposed zero hours rules to agency workers.
The government has now published its plans for applying proposed zero hours rules to agency workers.
Sometimes size matters and from April this year, small businesses are simply getting bigger. This means that hiring businesses once classified as medium-sized may no longer be, at least for IR35 purposes.
In a recent case a first tier Employment Tribunal decided that a social worker was a worker and that the party responsible for paying the worker was the employment business supplying her to a client.  The decision is surprising because the supply contract was with the worker’s personal service company (PSC), and has given rise to the claim in some quarters that it is the harbinger of employment rights for contractors working inside IR35.
Recent news reports agency workers and gig economy participants are being charged fees to receive their pay quickly. However, is this practice legal?
