One of the most common areas of confusion for umbrella company contractors is employment status. It’s easy to understand why, when so many in the industry also seem to be confused. If you’re working for an umbrella company, you can be forgiven for assuming you’re self-employed, or that you have some mysterious and complex “other” status.
The search for a trustworthy umbrella company can be a real headache for you as a recruiter, and for your supply teachers. You rely on our expertise, much as your schools rely on yours, so it can be a disaster if you find that you’ve trusted the wrong company. That’s why we go to such great lengths to prove ourselves as trustworthy experts. For example, we recently passed our annual FCSA audit, which involves a thorough examination of our practices, processes and systems by auditors from global accountancy firm Ernst and Young.
If you work in supply teacher recruitment, it won’t surprise you when we say that teaching is a stressful job, and recently the spotlight has fallen on staff wellbeing in the education sector. There are definitely some challenges:
It’s becoming common for recruiters to underestimate the amount of work involved in assessing IR35 status correctly, and by extension how long it will take.
Many recruiters believe they can assess the status of each role, rather than individual contractors. This would mean, for example, that if you engage thirty contractors doing the same job, you’d only have to complete one assessment rather than thirty. It would also mean that assessments could be completed far in advance, as soon as you knew the details of the role and if necessary, before the contractor has been recruited.
Given that private-sector IR35 reform is due to take place in April 2020, you could be forgiven for thinking you and your clients have over a year left to prepare. Many recruiters and are thinking that way, and it’s understandable.
