If you’ve been working in recruitment for any length of time you probably already know that levels of service and professionalism can vary greatly within the umbrella services industry.
Selecting the right umbrella service/s for your agency’s PSL or to recommend to your contractors is important. By ensuring your contractors use a service which is professional, efficient and compliant you will save time and minimise any potential headaches.
So what should you be looking for?
- Will you have a dedicated Account Manager? A named person you pick up the phone to who knows and understands your business
- Look for a provider who is fully complaint and happy to be questioned on this
- Do contractors registered with them have good things to say about them? What about other agencies? Ask for testimonials and look at reviews. Speak to contacts and get genuine recommendations (not just referrals which will be rewarded with incentives!)
- Are they members or associate members of the FCSA
- Do they look professional? Look at their website and correspondence. Yes a professional looking website isn’t always a guarantee that a business is reputable but a website that looks unprofessional could be an indication of a company that has been thrown together or doesn’t take a pride in its professional image
- Are they established and financially sound? If an umbrella company goes into administration as the recruiter you will probably be the first person the contractors call when they don’t get paid. This can be stressful and time consuming so you want your contractors to be registered with umbrella companies that are financially secure and reliable. Credit check them before you add them to your supplier list or recommend them to anyone
- Are they making realistic promises? Be wary of any organisation advertising unrealistically high take home pay or suggesting they don’t need receipts for expenses
- Contractors often work long hours and aren’t sat at a desk 9-5. They’ll thank you for recommending an umbrella service that offers a range of ways to communicate with them and facilities such as submitting expenses online
By choosing the right umbrella service things should run smoothly, choosing the wrong one could lead to queries and stress for your candidates and for you. It’s also worth remembering that whilst the umbrella service you recommend may be a completely separate business the wrong recommendation could reflect badly on you and your organisation.
If you have any questions about our service and what we offer please just ask. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to talk about our services and how we can meet your requirements.
