PAYE umbrella contractors remain unscathed by AWR

Contractors working under umbrella companies may be encouraged by findings from the temporary labour supplier de Poel, which show a 13% increase in the hiring of temporary personnel in January, despite grim warnings from some pundits that the AWR would result in a mass cull of jobs in the New Year.

The manufacturing sector took on 35% more temporary workers, followed closely by the business services sector, which hired 33% more. Rises were also recorded in the care sector (19%) and the construction industry (13%).

John Salisbury, the Managing Director of de Poel, remarked: “Our data indicates that the AWR has not directly impacted the use of temporary staff and that any changes are more related to the economic climate and specific industry trading patterns.”

PAYE umbrella contractors with lingering worries about how the regulations may affect them in the longer term can draw some comfort by the ongoing vigour of the PCG’s and REC’s education campaigns for recruiters, employers and freelancers. The REC’s Head of Policy, Gillian Econopouly, said: “The REC and PCG have always been in agreement that the AWR was never intended to apply to genuinely self-employed freelancers. We are united in making every effort to help freelancers, HR professionals and recruiters understand what this means for how they work.”

She went on: “Recruiters, freelancers and hirers all want the same thing: a healthy, vibrant contractor community which is not affected by these regulations, which were designed to protect workers at the other end of the job market.”