Advice please, at the end of my rope

**lucyclarityumbrella** · 12 April 2016, 09:36

Hi there

I will PM you and see if I can help.

**northernladuk** · 12 April 2016, 09:42

Originally posted by lucycontractorumbrella View Post

Hi there

I will PM you and see if I can help.

Not too sure the newbies have PM functionality with only 1 post?

OP.. I'd give Lucy a call directly if I was as hacked of as you sound. The number is on their website.

**jamesbrown** · 12 April 2016, 22:56

Originally posted by FedupwithGiant View Post

I decided to venture into the world of contracting but wasn't sure if I would stay so took a 6 month contract and signed up with Giant. Their estimates had my take home being around £5300 a month which given PAYE calculators seemed about right. I was shocked and dismayed when my first month's cheque was for £3600 which included a Student Loan Payment of (£668) that they said I ticked the box for on my P46 (I never went to school in the UK so that is pretty much impossible) and didn't tick it. They promised to repay that amount this month but now are telling me that since it is a new tax year I have to request it from HMRC. I'm trying to understand how I made more a month when I was an employee and made £25k less a year. Can anyone help? I feel like the Employer's cost are extortionate and amount to about £1k a month (of which some is their margin £140). They can't provide me a break down when I ask. I have decided to leave them from the 1st of April but have a horrible feeling they will be keeping quite a bit of my money.

For information I contract out of an Agency that pays monthly (Giant's calculators only seem to be weekly)

Your misunderstanding probably relates, primarily, to the payment of Employer's National Insurance. The umbrella is your employer. As such, they need to pay Employer's NI. They pay this from the money they receive from their client (for whom you work), so the amount you receive will be net of Employer's NI, Employee's NI, PAYE taxes, the umbrella margin, and any other deductions (e.g. the incorrect student loan amount).

It's a common misconception to compare the net income you might have experienced previously from a regular employer (you don't see the Employer's NI removed from this, but it's nothing more than a payroll tax, indirectly from your pay) and an umbrella employment (you get to experience the Employer's NI directly, because it's part of their "employment cost"). That said, they really must be able to provide you with a breakdown, otherwise they're pretty worthless IMO (i.e. potentially trying to obfuscate their margin by lumping it together with other things).

**jamesbrown** · 12 April 2016, 23:16

To be fair, they do include this in their FAQ (although they need to update their info on expenses

):

"The Gross Company Margin includes giant’s employment costs and Company Net Margin for each week worked. This includes but isn’t limited to: employer’s National Insurance (NI), employers' pension payments and any approved business expenses that are reimbursed to you. As an employer, giant has to make a statutory payment of Employer’s NI each time you are paid; this is on top of the NI payment made by every employee. All this info is shown on the invoice reconciliation each time we process your payroll. This is in the payslip section of the employee portal."

**FedupwithGiant** · 13 April 2016, 14:03

Thank you all. They had shorted me by two days each month for some obscure reason that I picked them up on. It has been rectified. What hasn't is their assertion that I need to contact HMRC as it is now a new tax year, to get my payment of a student loan paid back to me. I am fighting them on this as it was their mistake.

**NotAllThere** · 13 April 2016, 14:09

Originally posted by FedupwithGiant View Post

...What hasn't is their assertion that I need to contact HMRC as it is now a new tax year, to get my payment of a student loan paid back to me. I am fighting them on this as it was their mistake.

When my employer (years ago) overpaid my tax, it was me who had to reclaim it from the HMRC. My employer couldn't. Perhaps Giant have the same issue. Does it matter so long as you get the money back?

**BrilloPad** · 13 April 2016, 14:16

Originally posted by NotAllThere View Post

When my employer (years ago) overpaid my tax, it was me who had to reclaim it from the HMRC. My employer couldn't. Perhaps Giant have the same issue. Does it matter so long as you get the money back?

Giant will have the same issue.

If I was the OP I would claim it from HMRC. And also claim it from Giant! kerching.....

Advice please, at the end of my rope