Whilst many Recruitment Agencies utilise a Preferred Supplier List (PSL) of umbrella companies and contractor accountants, how sure can stakeholders of an agency be that this is being enforced by their workforce?
Unfortunately, not everyone plays fair and with the introduction of various pieces of legislation in the past few years, the need for an agency and its directors to protect itself has never been greater. The new Criminal Finance Act especially includes the corporate offence which necessitates the need for stakeholders to know their supply chain partners.
But has the implementation of a PSL and all of the work involved in ensuring your providers’ compliance all been in vain? Are your consultants using the PSL to its full extent?
There has been long-standing talk of HMRC targeting individual consultants for unpaid amounts of tax due to direct payments made by providers. But with the onset of the Criminal Finance Act, the use of unscrupulous providers who provide the largest referral incentive not only puts consultants at risk, but leaves the business and stakeholders wide open to investigation, penalties and fines also. The financial and reputational damage this could cause can be devastating for all.
By ensuring a PSL is used on all occasions will provide you with the surety that you are in control of your supply chain and the use of outsourced providers. It will also provide evidence to HMRC, to candidates and to the wider supply chain that prevention measures are in place to avoid the possibility of anything untoward occurring.
ePayMe are proud to be the trusted provider for the leading recruiters in the UK via both their Preferred Supplier Lists and Sole Provider Agreements demonstrating our commitment to compliance for our contractors and agency partners.
To help we are always happy to provide guidance and support to agencies to create a robust and compliant process when choosing their outsourced providers.
We have an online checklist to aid in this process but you can also contact our team on 01252-863700 and we’ll be happy to discuss your requirements further.
Make sure you get it right; get it wrong and pay the consequences!
Michael Meany
Compliance & Finance Manager