Our Compliance Standards

At Umbrella Regulation Society, we pride ourselves on providing independent, impartial compliance services across the contractor and recruitment sectors. As a neutral entity, we have a unique advantage to advise various sectors, ensuring standards are objective, transparent, and uphold the highest integrity.

Our compliance standards go beyond basic tax rules. We ensure that providers operate within HMRC guidelines and comply with broader legal and regulatory requirements. This approach gives workers and agencies peace of mind, knowing they engage with compliant, transparent providers.

Transparency is at the heart of our process. We insist on clear and open operational practices from all providers to ensure workers understand every detail of their arrangements. Our standards are continuously reviewed and updated, keeping providers aligned with industry best practices, regulatory changes, and emerging legal interpretations. Our commitment to upholding uncompromising standards has earned us recognition as the only compliance accreditation backed by blue-chip insurance.

Compliance Areas We Cover

Our compliance review covers a broad range of services designed to cater to the unique operational structures of each provider. Our in-depth standards apply across the following areas:

• Agency Payroll Bureau: Ensuring payroll services for agencies are fully compliant and transparent.
• Umbrella (with and without expenses): Comprehensive review of umbrella services to ensure compliance with tax and employment standards.
• Professional Employment Organizations (PEO): Verifying compliance in PEO operations to protect both workers and agencies.
• Joint Employment: Reviewing shared employment arrangements to ensure all parties fulfill their obligations.
• Accountancy Services: Detailed review of accountancy services for contractors operating under limited companies.

Our standards apply not only to services we can approve but also exclude specific non-compliant arrangements, ensuring reliability and trustworthiness across the board.

Services We Cannot Approve

To maintain strict adherence to compliance, we do not review or approve the following service types, as they may conflict with our standards:

• Elective Deduction Models: Often used for low-wage workers, these models may avoid essential compliance aspects like holiday pay and minimum wage requirements.
• Umbrella Sub-Contracting to PSCs: Umbrella companies using employment contracts to subcontract to Personal Service Companies cannot meet our compliance standards.
• Pay Day by Pay Day Models: These arrangements often result in workers receiving less than the National Minimum Wage.
• Mini Umbrella Schemes: These setups attempt to access employer NI relief improperly and do not meet our standards.
• Loan-Based Arrangements: Income is sometimes misclassified as loans or annuities to avoid tax; we do not endorse providers engaging in these schemes.
• Offshore Payment Models: Offshore payments are high-risk and often involve new schemes claiming compliance; we exclude these from review.
• Umbrella Companies using the Nurses Agency VAT Concession: HMRC does not permit this concession for umbrella providers, so it does not meet our compliance standards.

Providers must adhere to these guidelines strictly. If any evidence of non-compliant services is found, the provider’s Approved status will be suspended immediately until full compliance is restored.

Ongoing Compliance Monitoring

Our standards are not one-time requirements; they represent an ongoing commitment to integrity and compliance. We perform regular assessments and receive continuous feedback from our market network, allowing us to stay proactive and responsive to any compliance concerns.

If a concern arises regarding any provider’s adherence, we act immediately by conducting a thorough investigation and taking necessary actions to maintain the integrity of our standards. This ongoing vigilance ensures that our compliance remains current with market needs and regulatory updates, providing robust support for contractors, agencies, and end clients.

Our Compliance Review Process

Becoming an Approved Provider involves a structured, multi-step process that ensures each provider meets our rigorous standards:

1. Initial Discussion: After your inquiry, we schedule a call to discuss your services and identify any potential compliance concerns, helping us understand if there are immediate barriers to approval.
2. Pre-Compliance Review Day: A comprehensive meeting to discuss our compliance standards in-depth. We review current practices, assess documentation, and outline necessary updates before a full compliance review. Providers are required to share employment contracts and relevant documents for this assessment.
3. Full Compliance Review: Once initial actions are completed, we conduct a thorough compliance review to document your processes, gather supporting evidence, and assess the application of compliance standards across services. Providers successfully passing this stage receive Approved status.
4. Verification: In cases where new processes are adopted based on our recommendations, a follow-up verification occurs within three months to confirm compliance consistency.
5. Ongoing Compliance: Approved Providers receive regular updates through our Provider Intelligence Newsletters. Biennial reviews at your offices ensure continued adherence to compliance standards, with all findings documented for transparency.
6. Membership Terms: Providers are required to inform us of any operational or service changes. New services must be pre-approved against our compliance criteria to retain Approved status.

Transparency and Confidentiality in Our Standards

We prioritize objectivity and transparency but do not publish detailed compliance standards to maintain confidentiality and ensure thorough, unbiased reviews. When working with a new provider, we begin by understanding current services in depth without disclosing specific review criteria. This method allows us to evaluate providers fairly and highlight areas for improvement objectively.

Financial Due Diligence

While we periodically review providers’ financial standings, we do not oversee their day-to-day finances. We strongly encourage our members to conduct independent financial due diligence when selecting providers to ensure comprehensive evaluation. This approach adds an extra layer of confidence and security for all parties.