With workers becoming more and more in demand and a lack of work currently available for skilled temporary/contracted workers, there is more emphasis on the agencies to offer a better service. This is not only with their on-boarding, but also to give the worker the flexibility to be able to earn more. A happy worker will not only return, but also spread the love by recommending to fellow co-workers on their experience.
This experience not only works for agencies but also from a payroll perspective. From a legal stand point, agencies should be offering alternatives to the worker on how they can be paid. Whether this is via an in-house or outsourced PAYE service. By only offering an in-house PAYE solution, this will have an adverse effect on the workers net pay, if they choose the flexibility to work through multiple agencies.
The role of an outsourced provider, like ePayMe, allows workers to utilise multiple agencies and not affect their tax deductions.
By utilising an in-house PAYE with one agency, they will hold the workers primary tax code, so any other work completed elsewhere will be subject to 20% tax on all gross. Whereas via an outsourced payroll provider, any additional earnings will not be affected, so consequently allowing for an immediate greater return in net pay.
Agencies not allowing workers to utilise a provider they are already registered with is preventing the worker from having flexibility and may be seen as restrictive, which most often results in losing a skilled member of their workforce to a competitor that will allow them to use their preferred payroll provider.
A recent news article by Sarah Johnston, Managing Director of ePayMe outlines many aspects of this problem: https://www.epayme.co.uk/back-to-basics-outsourcing-freelancer-payroll/
Therefore, do not be so blinkered with who you work with as a provider. Yes, make sure you complete all the relevant due diligence and compliance checks, but think about the worker’s needs, after all without them you as an agency are losing out!