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This forms one part of the organisation’s four-point plan to tackle abuses by umbrella companies and ensure that recruitment agencies which use them do all they can to protect the rights of temporary workers. This plan contains actions for Government, recruitment agencies and the REC itself, and all parties must work together to deal with this issue.
This follows a series of criticisms of bad practice among a number of umbrella suppliers and calls for action to curtail any abuses.
Neil Carberry from the REC, said: “Recruiters want a robust and fair supply chain, where workers’ rights and pay are protected and all parties’ responsibilities are clear. Bad-faith umbrella companies have been allowed to thrive alongside compliant businesses for too long.
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“Of course, employment businesses also have a responsibility to make sure they operate with fairness and transparency, and for our part, the REC will continue to ensure our members do this.
"Workers should always know who they are employed by, and we worked with Government on the introduction of the Key Information Document (KID) to ensure everyone has this information. We urge all recruiters to always conduct rigorous due diligence on their supply chains, and I have written to all our members with new guidance to help them do so – this is more important than ever right now.”
Regulated
The REC has advocated for umbrella companies to be regulated for many years. In the absence of that regulation, the recruitment body is announcing a set of measures aimed at protecting workers and ensuring compliance among recruitment businesses.:
- A call for HMRC to set up a hotline dedicated to reporting bad practice by umbrella companies
- A proposed legal definition of umbrella companies which Government should use as a starting point for regulation
- New guidance for all REC member businesses to follow to avoid working with bad-faith, non-compliant umbrellas
- Re-affirming and clarifying the REC’s Code of Professional Conduct, members’ obligations, and the actions that the REC will take against members who are have found to have breached the Code.
Bad practice
A key part of tackling bad practice by umbrella companies is ensuring that where recruitment businesses use them, they are acting with complete transparency and making sure they conduct full checks on the umbrellas they work with.
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The letter also re-affirms REC members’ duties under the Code of Professional Practice, which requires them to comply with the law and treat their agency workers with transparency and honesty. The REC has a robust complaints prodecure to deal with any breaches of the Code, including relating to umbrella companies, and the letter also reiterates that the REC will take appropriate action if a member is found to be in breach.
Legal definition
While employment businesses and employment agencies are fully regulated, payroll providers like umbrella companies are not. One significant barrier to regulating umbrellas is that there is currently no legal definition for an umbrella company – meaning they can avoid any responsibilities that would be associated with regulation.
To solve this, the REC has proposed that Government adopts a definition as set out in the Agency Worker Regulations, which could be used as a starting point for regulation of umbrella companies. This would create a level playing field between umbrellas and employment agencies, which are fully regulated, and help ensure that umbrellas can be held to account if they breach their legal obligations.
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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2021
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