Parasol = Thats a lot of deductions!

[Wary]

Thanks again Lisa; things are becoming clearer now. Just one point for clarification re the amount. Although it can’t be less than minimum wage, is there any reason why they’d ever be legally obliged to pay more?

Can I also ask similar questions re maternity/paternity pay ... not that these would ever apply to me! Rather, I’m interested to know exactly what the employer’s obligations/overheads are resulting from AWR:
• How much are they obliged to pay? Is it just a minimum of minimum wage again, with no obligation to pay more regardless?
• For how many weeks are they obliged to pay you?
• You say that 92% of maternity can be claimed back, but how about paternity?

[The Spartan]

If anything this thread and it's participants have proved which Umbrella's are trustworthy and those that can't be trusted.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Thanks again Lisa; things are becoming clearer now. Just one point for clarification re the amount. Although it can’t be less than minimum wage, is there any reason why they’d ever be legally obliged to pay more?

Can I also ask similar questions re maternity/paternity pay ... not that these would ever apply to me! Rather, I’m interested to know exactly what the employer’s obligations/overheads are resulting from AWR:
• How much are they obliged to pay? Is it just a minimum of minimum wage again, with no obligation to pay more regardless?
• For how many weeks are they obliged to pay you?
• You say that 92% of maternity can be claimed back, but how about paternity?

The AWR guidance (think we are onto our 4th or 5th version) states that the pay between assignments must be 'At least National Minimum Wage' and as long as this requirement is fulfilled I can't see that there would be a reasonable requirement to pay more.
Most umbrella companies these days won't accept really short assignments due to the administrative burden and financial risks
Same applies to SPP - can only claim back 92% if your NI bill per annum is more than £45,000

[Gemma]

Lisa,

Can you clarify how you recover SSP? Both of my previous umbrella companies have told me that it can only be recovered if it totals more than 13% of the company’s NI bill for the month and since they have a lot of employees the bill is enormous and recovery can never happen; hence it is a real cost to the umbrella. Or have I been mislead?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Lisa,

Can you clarify how you recover SSP? Both of my previous umbrella companies have told me that it can only be recovered if it totals more than 13% of the company’s NI bill for the month and since they have a lot of employees the bill is enormous and recovery can never happen; hence it is a real cost to the umbrella. Or have I been mislead?

Yep sorry Gemma you are right - just as well I am the CEO and not in the payroll department But I can still confirm that SSP is a cost to business to ContractorUmbrella, as it should be with all UK employers and that we don't make a deduction from our employees to cover it

[DarrylMcFakeName]

I've been reading this thread with interest for a few weeks and have been in discussions with Parasol. Needless to say, I've got nowhere. Steven is helpful to find you someone to talk to, the problem is that Parasol flatly refuse to give a breakdown of the employment costs.

Seeing as I've been stung, I've decided to leave at the end of December. I want my "employment costs" (minus employers NI) back and am considering legal action to get it. If I do, I'll post here for if anyone else wants to clump together. Even though it's a small amount, they should have to pay the legal fees if found to be in the wrong.

I'm not working from 28th-30th, but haven't invoiced for December yet. I plan to call Parasol and tell them I'm sick on those days, and should recoup some of the money they've taken from me. From two invoices it's over £300 on top of NI. Am I running a risk too far? Does anyone think I should bite my lip and go the legal route instead? If it's worth doing, I urge other Parasol employees to do the same.

Cheers all.

[The Spartan]

I'm leaving them on the 30th December and going to ContractorUmbrella, this time I'm confident I made the right choice.

Parasol will take all round the houses and there's no point in taking the legal route as it's specified in their contract about SSP, SMP etc. I had many a conversation with them and I do believe they're not meant to rollup your holiday pay either.

[Yehudi]

To quote Stephen, Parasol PR manager, on this forum in March:

"Parasol don’t take any profit from the rate you are paid by your agency
to cover the cost of Employer’s NI, we only take our flat fee,
either weekly or monthly, regardless of what you get paid.
Everything you earn is passed on to you directly."

And indeed, until AWR, this was true (at least for me).

More recently, an email from Parasol describing the contract changes being brought in for AWR clearly states:
"However, you can rest assured - none of your assignment details will change
and there's no change to the way you currently work, just carry on working
in the way you always have done with us."

While the detail of the contract does state that payroll costs are "not restricted to" those items specifically mentioned, I think the spirit of our agreement (and Parasol's marketing and employee communications) would suggest that they will not simply grab some extra cash when they feel like it. Although that is exactly what they have done - they are effectively taxing my expenses to cover their business costs.

I have already resigned, and they now have a chance to refund the extra cash they took. Failure to do that will see an Employment Tribunal claim land on their doormat.

For those feeling nervous about the legal route - an ET claim costs nothing and employment law is largely on your side.

[The Spartan]

To quote Stephen, Parasol PR manager, on this forum in March:

"Parasol don’t take any profit from the rate you are paid by your agency
to cover the cost of Employer’s NI, we only take our flat fee,
either weekly or monthly, regardless of what you get paid.
Everything you earn is passed on to you directly."

And indeed, until AWR, this was true (at least for me).

More recently, an email from Parasol describing the contract changes being brought in for AWR clearly states:
"However, you can rest assured - none of your assignment details will change
and there's no change to the way you currently work, just carry on working
in the way you always have done with us."

While the detail of the contract does state that payroll costs are "not restricted to" those items specifically mentioned, I think the spirit of our agreement (and Parasol's marketing and employee communications) would suggest that they will not simply grab some extra cash when they feel like it. Although that is exactly what they have done - they are effectively taxing my expenses to cover their business costs.

I have already resigned, and they now have a chance to refund the extra cash they took. Failure to do that will see an Employment Tribunal claim land on their doormat.

For those feeling nervous about the legal route - an ET claim costs nothing and employment law is largely on your side.

Time to put the cat amongst the pigeons then

[Wary]

I've been reading this thread with interest for a few weeks and have been in discussions with Parasol. Needless to say, I've got nowhere. Steven is helpful to find you someone to talk to, the problem is that Parasol flatly refuse to give a breakdown of the employment costs.

Seeing as I've been stung, I've decided to leave at the end of December. I want my "employment costs" (minus employers NI) back and am considering legal action to get it. If I do, I'll post here for if anyone else wants to clump together. Even though it's a small amount, they should have to pay the legal fees if found to be in the wrong.

I'm not working from 28th-30th, but haven't invoiced for December yet. I plan to call Parasol and tell them I'm sick on those days, and should recoup some of the money they've taken from me. From two invoices it's over £300 on top of NI. Am I running a risk too far? Does anyone think I should bite my lip and go the legal route instead? If it's worth doing, I urge other Parasol employees to do the same.

Cheers all.

Another satisfied customer, eh Steve!

Not sure about the false sick claim now. Although you haven't given your real name, there's probably sufficient detail in your post to identify you should you go ahead with it, especially if you also go down the route of legal action.

Legal action does seem like a good idea although you really need advice from an Employment lawyer. However, from what has been said on this forum, the legality of them passing these new employment costs onto their employees must be questionable. I'd also question the fairness of how they apportion them to each employee, which appears to be an arbitrary percentage of your expenses/pension contribution (some will be paying lots; others nothing), and whether they truly reflect their true increase in employment costs. Despite their claims that the contract contains a clause that allows them to deduct additional money, the legitimacy of doing it this way, as opposed to increasing the upfront fee and without even informing their employees, must be in doubt.

Good luck with it. I'd join you if I were with Parasol, such is my disgust with what they're doing.