Choice of Umbrella 'non negotiable'

[francescaf2704]

Hi all,

I have just applied for my second contract. The people at the agency i am going through sent a "permission to represent" form.

It all seems fine and very general ie. "please confirm that you agree that we can share your information with the client" etc.

However, they have also included "Consent to Disclose Your Details to our Umbrella Company Provider. We will need to disclose your contact details (name, email address, telephone number) to our Umbrella company provider in order that they may contact you to set up your contract. YES / NO (Please delete as appropriate)

The implication here is that you can ONLY use their umbrella company, however, on my last contract i used trafalgar and to be honest wouldnt consider anyone else.What I want to know is can an agency state you are only permitted to use one umbrella company?

Thanks in advance

[Boo]

Hi all,

I have just applied for my second contract. The people at the agency i am going through sent a "permission to represent" form.

It all seems fine and very general ie. "please confirm that you agree that we can share your information with the client" etc.

However, they have also included "Consent to Disclose Your Details to our Umbrella Company Provider. We will need to disclose your contact details (name, email address, telephone number) to our Umbrella company provider in order that they may contact you to set up your contract. YES / NO (Please delete as appropriate)

The implication here is that you can ONLY use their umbrella company, however, on my last contract i used trafalgar and to be honest wouldnt consider anyone else.What I want to know is can an agency state you are only permitted to use one umbrella company?

They can do what they want and you can tell them to foxtrot oscar. But if you insist on using your previous brolly they will probably back down. Probably.

Boo

[greenlake]

YES / NO (Please delete as appropriate)

Seems like they're giving you a choice.

[northernladuk]

Seems like they're giving you a choice.

That's what I thought. I can't believe their client would be very happy to find they are potentially costing them quality contractors just for a kick back from a brolly.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Sorry to disillusion you guys but if an agency has a closed PSL the contractor will be given no choice but to use one of those companies on the list

[NotAllThere]

Sorry to disillusion you guys but if an agency has a closed PSL the contractor will be given no choice but to use one of those companies on the list

So there are agencies excluding from their books anyone who's with another brolly*? Do they exclude own-co contractors as well? What happens if after the client has said "yes, we want this person", you have to pull out because you can't stay with your current brolly? Seems staggeringly dumb and business limiting.

The implication here is that you can ONLY use their umbrella company, however, on my last contract i used trafalgar and to be honest wouldnt consider anyone else.What I want to know is can an agency state you are only permitted to use one umbrella company?

No. I think you're reading far too much into this. All they are asking is to pass your details on, presumably so their favoured brolly can contact you to try to convince you to use them.




* Since changing brollies means that until you've done two roles through the new brolly you cannot claim T&S. And if you've only done one role through the old brolly you can't claim T&S for that one.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

So there are agencies excluding from their books anyone who's with another brolly*? Do they exclude own-co contractors as well? What happens if after the client has said "yes, we want this person", you have to pull out because you can't stay with your current brolly? Seems staggeringly dumb and business limiting.


No. I think you're reading far too much into this. All they are asking is to pass your details on, presumably so their favoured brolly can contact you to try to convince you to use them.




* Since changing brollies means that until you've done two roles through the new brolly you cannot claim T&S. And if you've only done one role through the old brolly you can't claim T&S for that one.

Yep that's pretty much how it all works - the contractors want the roles and will, for the most part, leave their current employer to move to a new one if it's demanded of them and, yes, any expenses on the first contract are not allowable and can only be claimed with the second employer if the contractor remains with them for 2 assignments or more

[NotAllThere]

Yep that's pretty much how it all works - the contractors want the roles and will, for the most part, leave their current employer to move to a new one if it's demanded of them...

How bizarre. Contractors obviously are made of weaker stuff than when I were a lad.

[Boo]

How bizarre. Contractors obviously are made of weaker stuff than when I were a lad.

You should be aware that Lisa is pursuing an agenda on this issue.

Boo2

[unixman]

I've come across an agency's PSL (preferred supplier list) only once. But it was a list of brollies rather than just one. Insisting on one seems a bit inflexible, no? Not the best way to do business?