Compliance

At FPS Group, our reputation has been built on our long history in providing legitimate and fully-compliant services that ensure the financial security of our clients and their recruitment companies by minimising all possible risks. We are the UK's only regulated administrator of Umbrella companies; and all of our services fully comply with HMRC requirements.

IR35

IR35 is a particular part of the UK legislation that deals with certain types of self-employment. IR35 is only important if you are trying to establish that you are self-employed - and therefore avoid tax deductions on your full salary.

By working through a Personal Service Umbrella company, you don't have to worry about falling inside or outside of IR35 (or indeed any other self-employment legislation). Our service eliminates the risk.

When you join a PSU, you become our employee. Your pay will be a salary payment, which is subject to full PAYE and National Insurance contributions. As such, UK state employment benefits will be available to you should you become a new parent or fall sick.

Working through your PSU makes IR35 irrelevant. It's one of the many advantages that give our clients a greater peace of mind than if they were operating their own limited company.

MSC

When the UK Government brought in MSC legislation, it meant that UK contractors no longer had the ability to set up a limited company and share the operation costs with other contractors.  If you want to have your own company now you will need to; establish it and manage it yourself, ensure that it conforms to UK company law and engage the services of an accountant to validate that the company's accounts are managed correctly.

Of course, this brings with it a lot of administrative concerns and cost overheads that many contractors would rather avoid. At FPS Group we know that most freelancers and contractors are already working long hours and don't have the time, inclination or necessary expertise which is required to run your own company.  You run the risk of ending up on the wrong side of MSC legislation - while trying to keep up with the various company reporting deadlines.

In addition, running a company can be expensive; and there is always a chance that your accountant could be deemed a 'managed service provider', which leaves you with a large tax bill.

The Personal Service Umbrella company has been designed to ensure that there is no risk to you, your agencies or your end clients from the MSC legislation.

Limited Company

If you have your own limited company  - also known as a personal service company - you will be the director and shareholder of the company. You will be fully responsible for:

• complying with all company and other statutory laws; including company law requirements to file accounts and returns to Companies House
• the calculation and payment of VAT and corporation tax liabilities
• payroll calculations, returns, and various other statutory requirements
• company administration, including; invoicing, bookkeeping and accounts, making tax payments and payroll
• ensuring the necessary insurances are in place to trade and to protect your clients

With a PSU from FPS, we take care of all of the above for you.

Agency Workers Directive and Agency Workers Regulations

On 1^st October 2011, the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) come into force. They introduce a number of new or increased demands regarding the payments of temporary workers. The aim of the legislation is to ensure that temporary workers are fairly treated. As AWR changes compliance requirements, it will be imperative for all parties to know what the hirer’s terms and conditions are relating to; pay, working hours, rest periods and annual leave. Within the industry this is called Comparator.

What does Comparator mean?

A Comparator model is simply a way to compare the pay and benefits of a temporary worker against that of a permanent worker who has similar qualifications and job specifications.

What’s the benefit to a client?

By using Comparator FPS are making sure our clients are getting what they are entitled to and the same rights as a permanent worker.

The Personal Service Umbrella has been designed to be fully compliant with this legislation and ensure that you get your equal rights upheld.

Pension Reform

From 1 October 2012 (subject to the employer's own introduction date), all eligible workers will have to be auto-enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme.  Employers can choose the qualifying scheme they use, which could include National Employment Savings Trust (NEST).  Each qualifying scheme must meet minimum standards in respect of the benefits it provides, or the amount of contributions which need to be paid to it.  The scheme must also provide auto-enrolment for all eligible workers and for all new workers at the point that they become eligible.

The Basics

The new employer duties are planned to come into force from 1 October 2012.  Under these duties, employers will have to enroll eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension arrangement. The employer will have to make the minimum of a 3% contribution to towards a defined contribution scheme (based on qualifying pensionable earnings) or NEST; and the employee will have to make the minimum of a 4% contribution to towards the scheme.

Although the new duties come in from 1 October 2012, the duties for individual employers will be introduced gradually over the following four years, and will be based on the size of the employer -typically by PAYE size.

The PSU has been designed to give you the ability to contribute into a pension plan that suits you. If you do not want to participate in the stakeholder pension, you can contribute as much or as little as you like into a private pension plan. We have a friendly Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) that you can talk to should you wish. Just contact one of our client services team and they can get the IFA to talk to you about your unique requirements. The benefit of a PSU is that there are no compulsory pension deductions from your salary.