Update for our Umbrella Clients

The following note was added on 1st April 2020 – The FCSA is seeking clarification from the government regarding agency workers (including umbrella) and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Please click here to see what you can do to help.

Churchill Knight Umbrella is proudly accredited by the FCSA, an accolade that is “recognised as the industry’s compliance gold standard”. We believe having it highlights our commitment to providing dependable and compliant services for our clients.

As a member of the FSCA, Churchill Knight Umbrella can benefit from their expert advice and guidance – especially when it comes to uncharted territory like we are well and truly entering now as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate the government’s efforts to support the self-employed, but a significant amount of information is still required in order to make sense of their new schemes.

The FCSA has recently posted an update on their efforts to gain clarity from the government about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

“We are aware that the job retention scheme guidance states that bonuses and commission should be excluded from the furlough pay calculation, which means that umbrella employees may only be able to receive 80% of national minimum wage.

We believe that this is grossly unfair, and we also hope that this is not the government’s intention.

We are actively lobbying on behalf of the 625k umbrella employees seeking to ensure that they can receive furlough pay based on their average earnings, and not solely the NMW portion. We strongly encourage any affected umbrella employee to make their MP aware of the situation, who in turn should write to the Treasury with their concerns. Doing this urgently will strengthen our collective voice.”

As soon as more information is made available, our clients will be the first to find out. In the meantime, thank you for your understanding. We appreciate this is a stressful time and we’re doing everything we can to reassure our clients.