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Parasol - Employment Costs - extra charges??

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    #21
    I have just been on to Parasol who claims the ONLY cost being with Parasol is £119.50.. Absolutely NO hidden charges.. It will be interesting to call them tomorrow so I can get an understanding of why charge me 700-900 per month, on top of the £119.50 they are meant to charge.
    Last edited by scope; 9 February 2012, 15:20.

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      #22
      Originally posted by scope View Post
      Yes, the more I billed the higher the "employment cost" was.. I must correct myself.. It varies from £700-900.. If this is something they have charged me for offering me a service they have another thing coming.. I signed up for £119.50 and WILL go to a tribunal to recoop my money.
      I would guess, and this is only a guess although an educated one, that Parasol have adopted a Swedish Derogation Contract of Employment which must, by law, have a provision for pay between assignments. Basically, this means that in order for an over-arching contract to be maintained as required by law under the AWR and by HMR&C to fulfil their requirements for mutuality of obligation, salary payments must be made on a regular basis regardless of whether the individual is on assignment or not; under the AWR the payment is for up to 4 weeks. I would think that, in order to fund this obligation, Parasol are making a deduction from your earnings to compensate for any pay between assignments that becomes due.

      Surely you have received something explaining the additional deductions?? If you haven't agreed to a deduction in writing it is actually unlawful emplaw.co.uk - Latest British Employment Law News
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        #23
        Originally posted by LisaContractorUmbrella View Post
        I would guess, and this is only a guess although an educated one, that Parasol have adopted a Swedish Derogation Contract of Employment which must, by law, have a provision for pay between assignments. Basically, this means that in order for an over-arching contract to be maintained as required by law under the AWR and by HMR&C to fulfil their requirements for mutuality of obligation, salary payments must be made on a regular basis regardless of whether the individual is on assignment or not; under the AWR the payment is for up to 4 weeks. I would think that, in order to fund this obligation, Parasol are making a deduction from your earnings to compensate for any pay between assignments that becomes due.

        Surely you have received something explaining the additional deductions?? If you haven't agreed to a deduction in writing it is actually unlawful emplaw.co.uk - Latest British Employment Law News
        But when queried about the AWR and what it mean to me Parasol said I get absolutely nothing.. No sick pay, no holiday pay, no nothing.. (Which to be fair I didnt expect.. ).. So if Im not getting anything then surely they are not entitled to charge me anything? I have not agreed to anything, and I have not received any details about this deduction as far as I can recall..

        As far as I can see they started charging me this amount back in August/September (when they introduced their new pay slip/web site layout).. This coincided with me going over 24 months with my current client, and not able to claim expenses any more.. So I couldnt easily see a drop in income because of the extra tax I would be paying..

        Im sure it will be all clear when I call them tomorrow.. I will make sure I study the timesheets for the last 6 months before calling..

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          #24
          Originally posted by scope View Post
          I have just been on to Parasol who claims the ONLY cost being with Parasol is £119.50.. Absolutely NO hidden charges.. It will be interesting to call them tomorrow so I can get an understanding of why charge me 700-900 per month, on top of the £119.50 they are meant to charge.
          The bulk of their "employment costs" is actually employers NI. Without knowing your gross income, the figure you quote is in the correct ballpark for monthly employers NI so may actually be OK.

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            #25
            Ok, I'm back.

            After getting on to Parasol and playing the usual call centre game by demanding to speak to their supervisor, and their supervisor's supervisor I managed to get them to send me the breakdown of the employment costs. The hidden-no-hidden-fee charges were there exactly the same as I had calculated them - thanks to Wary's explanation.

            When I challenged them on this they gave me the same old..really sorry..bla bla...but insurance and sickness costs have gone up..bla bla. story. Oddly they still could not acknowledge the fact they'd done anything wrong, still seeming justified in taking money from me without my consent.

            I reiterated that I wasn't happy, but before I was able to play the old employment tribunal line, I was offered a complete refund on the charges going back to October! And I was told that the payroll system had been changed this month and that the 'additional' employment costs will go away!

            A change of heart perhaps from Parasol? I have not received the refund yet, and neither have I received the latest payslip after their supposed payroll system change. We'll see, although I am still very unimpressed by what they've done and will be moving to a different umbrella for my next contract.

            I would advise any Parasol contractors on here to contact Parasol and demand a breakdown of your employment costs back to October 2011, and if you discover that Parasol have made unauthorised deductions then I would suggest you demand a refund. It's your money they've taken.

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              #26
              I spent a long time on the phone to Parasol today, and spoke to a very nice, very helpful lady called Clare. She did not have all the answers, but she had some AND called me back as promised.

              She has said she will call me back tomorrow hopefully with answers to 3 questions I left for her to investigate.

              In my case, on my most recent monthly payslip, the 'cost of employment' amount is exactly 50p more than the employers NI figure.

              Whilst 50p is not a significant amount, it is still more than the published 119.50 and also, I know it would rise had I claimed expenses.

              Therefore, I have asked her:

              1. How is the 'cost of employment' calculated.
              2. What exactly is it for. (If it is for pay between assignments / sick pay etc - I will ask if I am entitled to it).
              3. Is there a cap on the 'cost of employment' figure, and what is it.

              The reason I am asking Q3 is because I was told even if you claim expenses, the cost of employment should be capped at 'about £15' on top. I asked her to check with payroll if there is a cap, what is the EXACT amount.

              I sense that if there is a cap, it has been added sometime between today and October 1st when AWR came in.. and probably around the time people started kicking off about the 'cost of employment' figure.

              In any case, I think it is time Parasol reconsidered publishing figures of 27.50 / 119.50 as their fees are definitely higher than this.

              I will update you tomorrow.

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                #27
                Originally posted by fred857 View Post
                When I challenged them on this they gave me the same old..really sorry..bla bla...but insurance and sickness costs have gone up..bla bla. story. Oddly they still could not acknowledge the fact they'd done anything wrong, still seeming justified in taking money from me without my consent.

                I reiterated that I wasn't happy, but before I was able to play the old employment tribunal line, I was offered a complete refund on the charges going back to October! And I was told that the payroll system had been changed this month and that the 'additional' employment costs will go away!
                Whenever one gets this kind of justification spiel from them, insist that they don't justify WHY they need to charge extra but justify the WAY in which they're doing it, when they could have easily just increased the weekly fee, which would have the advantage of being transparent, up-front, the same for everyone and no doubt would have been altogether easier to administer & to change their payroll system. Could it be that they purposely choose to alter the "employment costs" calculation instead, on the basis that only the most vigilent & astute employees would realise and hence it would be a hidden cost to most?

                So they're planning to change their payroll system again to remove these deductions. Did you get that in writing from them?

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                  #28
                  I remember someone from Parasol, probably Steve on here, saying that AWR would cost a matter of "pence" rather than pounds - sounds as though he got his decimal point in the wrong place.
                  "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero

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                    #29
                    Has anyone contacted them about a refund of these extra costs?
                    In Scooter we trust

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                      #30
                      I did. They refused to refund, saying:
                      "any deductions made are at Parasols discretion"

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