Why should recruitment agencies feature SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies on their Preferred Supplier List (PSL)?

If you work in recruitment, how much do you know about SafeRec? The AI-powered software is revolutionising compliance in the contractor payroll sector. This article explains the benefits of referring candidates to SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies (such as Churchill Knight Umbrella). However, it’s not just your candidates who will reap the rewards. By referring candidates to SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies, your agency will receive a monthly audit report, which will provide tangible proof that your candidates are being paid compliantly – something that, until now, had never been possible. Please keep reading for more information.

What is SafeRec?

SafeRec software, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), uses real-time information to audit the payslips generated by umbrella companies. By referring a candidate to an umbrella with SafeRec certification, the worker will receive an automatically generated audit report for every payslip, which explains whether or not the deductions on their payslip are compliant or if any potential signs of malpractice have occurred.

For the first time ever, umbrella companies can prove to the entire supply chain that they are processing payroll correctly because an automatically generated audit is sent to the umbrella’s employees every time they are paid (and agencies receive a monthly audit summary with the audit results for all referred candidates with the umbrella).

Why should recruitment agencies add SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies to their Preferred Supplier List (PSL)?

Ethical recruitment agencies will all have the same objective when referring workers to payroll providers – to ensure candidates are in the best hands. Therefore, it’s vital that every professional working in recruitment is aware of SafeRec and the exclusive benefits that exist for their business and all of their temporary workers.

As a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company, did you know that all of our partnered recruitment agencies benefit from the following?

Protection against strict legislation

The government continually increases its efforts to eliminate tax avoidance and identify and punish those facilitating it, putting recruitment agencies at serious risk. Did you know that if you refer a candidate to a non-compliant payroll provider, even by mistake, your agency could be severely punished (Criminal Finances Act 2017), and the reputational damage could be unrecoverable? With this in mind, it’s essential that everyone at your agency understands the risks of non-compliant referrals and knows which companies are on your PSL and why.

You will save time and eliminate stress by referring candidates to a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company. By adding SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies, you know that you are guiding your candidates towards transparent providers, and the proof is in the payslip audits. You will still need to run strenuous due diligence on each umbrella you add to your PSL. However, adding SafeRec Certified businesses gives you a helpful head start and compliance reassurances from the beginning.

Provide added value for your candidates

Only SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies provide employees with a payslip audit every time they’re paid. Therefore, by referring your candidates to a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company, you’re referring them to a company with the very best compliance standards in the industry. Umbrella companies with SafeRec certification offer employees transparency that’s never been achievable until now, and this will undoubtedly be well-received by your candidates who want to know an ethical and trustworthy company is paying them.

You will be partnering with a business that can prove it is committed to the best compliance standards in the industry

Umbrella companies with SafeRec certification have nowhere to hide. As the payslip audits are automatically generated by SafeRec’s AI software every time a contractor or freelancer is paid, there is no way for unethical umbrella companies to manipulate these. The entire supply chain will be alerted if a payslip audit identifies any signs of malpractice.

Partnering with a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company makes your life easier

Until now, creating and maintaining a dependable Preferred Supplier List (PSL) has not been easy. Due to the risks associated with non-compliant referrals, every agency must have conducted thorough due diligence when adding a new payroll provider to their PSL because even one non-compliant referral could have devastating consequences. However, SafeRec changes this.

By adding a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company to your agency’s PSL, you can prove to HMRC (should you need to at any stage) that you have referred candidates to an umbrella that values compliance and transparency. And, as a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company, Churchill Knight Umbrella issues all of our partnered agencies with a tailored monthly audit report summarising every payslip audit that’s been created for referred candidates, meaning you will have a history log of every candidate you have referred to us and proof that we are paying them following HMRC’s regulations and UK tax law.

By adding SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies to your PSL, you reduce administrative responsibilities while ensuring your candidates receive the highest quality payroll in the sector. You’ll have ongoing records of precisely what has occurred when a candidate is referred and paid by an umbrella on your PSL, safeguarding your agency while being confident no unethical conduct has occurred during the payroll process.

No cost to your agency or candidates

There is no cost to your agency when you refer a candidate to our SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company, and there is no cost to your candidates. Payslip audits are automatically generated by SafeRec’s AI software every time we pay a contractor or freelancer, and we’ll send your agency a monthly report outlining all the referred candidates we’ve paid and the results of each payslip audit.

SafeRec is straightforward for the entire supply chain

SafeRec is extremely easy to understand – for both your candidates and the staff at your agency. The payslip audits are presented in a traffic light-style system. Assuming all the deductions appear compliant and legal, these will be marked green. Any deductions that could be an area of concern or need looking into will be orange. If a payslip audit identifies signs of potential malpractice (such as salary skimming), the audit figures in question will be marked red. Where an orange or red alert is created – the entire supply chain will be notified – meaning there is nowhere for non-compliant umbrella companies to hide.

SafeRec is the only way to prove that an umbrella company is paying employees compliantly

In a recent article we wrote for contractors and freelancers (SafeRec – The only way to prove your umbrella company is paying you compliantly, available here), we made a point of stressing that SafeRec is the only certification in the industry that allows temporary workers (and the supply chain) to know that an umbrella company is processing payroll compliantly.

The Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) is the UK’s leading professional body committed to ensuring that the supply chain (especially payroll providers) adhere to the very highest compliance standards. As an FCSA accredited umbrella company, Churchill Knight Umbrella values the FCSA exceptionally highly, and we’re proud to be a member of the UK’s most respected self-regulatory body aiming to protect temporary workers.

However, once an umbrella company has obtained FCSA accreditation, its daily activities are not monitored, and FCSA accredited umbrellas remain members until they undergo an annual audit, where they must prove they still adhere to the FCSA’s Codes of Compliance.

Sadly, there have been a few high-profile cases of so-called “compliant” umbrella’s acting unethically, with accusations that a small number of FCSA-accredited umbrellas have been salary skimming – an unethical practice of retaining more than their fair share by pocketing more than just their margin behind the back of their employees.

With the above information in mind, you can only truly be 100% certain that an umbrella is compliant if they are SafeRec Certified. Every payslip is audited by AI software in real-time, and any signs of malpractice are reported to the worker and the supply chain. SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companie have absolutely nowhere to hide if they are not paying workers compliantly.

“SafeRec makes supply chain compliance easy for all parties”

Ciaran Woodcock, Sales & Marketing Director at Churchill Knight Umbrella, explains why Churchill Knight Umbrella’s SafeRec Certification benefits all parties within the supply chain.

“I am extremely proud to work at a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company. SafeRec is genuinely revolutionary, and for the first time, umbrella companies can now prove they are processing payroll compliantly – something contractors, freelancers and the entire supply chain will hugely benefit from.

It is imperative in today’s industry, perhaps now more than ever, that recruitment agencies refer candidates to compliant payroll providers. Not only for their own sake, but failure to use compliant providers could result in severe repercussions for all parties involved.  Firstly, agencies are responsible for protecting their candidates and making trustworthy recommendations. Every agency with a PSL should ensure it’s up to date, reliable and exclusively features umbrella companies with perfect reputations. Secondly, failing to recommend candidates to a dependable umbrella isn’t just immoral, but it could also land an agency in serious trouble with HMRC and subject to an immense fine and an unrepairable reputation.

SafeRec makes supply chain compliance easy for all parties. Contractors and freelancers can be certain they’re being paid compliantly thanks to the automatically generated payslip audits they’ll receive via email. And, agencies will receive a monthly audit report for all of their candidates using the SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company showing that they have been correctly and the deductions are compliant with HMRC regulations. It really couldn’t be any simpler.

I urge every recruitment agency to evaluate how they manage supply chain compliance and consider referring temporary candidates exclusively to SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies. We have already received some exceptional feedback from our agency partners. I am excited to continue spreading the word and building new relationships with organisations that take compliance as seriously as Churchill Knight Umbrella.”

5 reasons why you should add Churchill Knight Umbrella to your recruitment agency’s PSL

We’re committed to providing the very best, compliant payroll services

Churchill Knight Umbrella is a proud member of the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA). We take compliance extremely seriously and value the FCSA’s excellent work in clamping down on non-compliance within the contractor payroll sector.

As a SafeRec Certified Umbrella Company, our partnered agencies have access to one massive benefit – payslip audit reporting for every candidate that is referred to our umbrella service. Until now, this had never been realistic, and thanks to SafeRec, you can refer your candidates to SafeRec Certified Umbrella Companies such as Churchill Knight Umbrella with more confidence than ever before.

Over 25 years of experience

Founded in 1998, Churchill Knight has a rich and rewarding history within the contractor payroll sector, and we are partnered with hundreds of staffing agencies throughout the United Kingdom. We have built a reputation we’re proud of, and it’s thanks to good old-fashioned hard work and building lasting relationships by understanding the needs of recruitment agencies and delivering even more than we promised.

When you partner with a payroll provider, we understand that communication is critical. You need to be confident that you can reach out to them when questions or concerns arise. By partnering with Churchill Knight, you’ll be assigned your own dedicated Account Manager who will be reachable whenever you need to speak with them. We appreciate this isn’t a unique selling point. Still, we are always surprised when liaising with new agencies who are amending their PSL because some payroll providers are almost impossible to contact when you need them the most. Not Churchill Knight, though; we’re contactable when you need us via telephone and email.

Excellent reviews

We’re proud to be considered one of the biggest and most established providers of contractor accountancy and umbrella payroll in the sector, and we believe this is thanks to the excellent service we provide. However, don’t just take our word for it. We have an excellent online reputation. Our Google review rating is 4.4/5.0, and our Trustpilot score is 4.6/5.0 (we have received over 300 reviews on each platform).

Multiple services

Churchill Knight offers more than just PAYE umbrella payroll. We can help your limited company candidates, as well as any CIS sole traders you place. We also have an in-house self-assessment tax return department who complete thousands of tax returns every year.

You will have your own dedicated Account Manager

When you partner with a payroll provider, we understand that communication is critical. You need to be confident that you can reach out to them when questions or concerns arise. By partnering with Churchill Knight, you’ll be assigned your own dedicated Account Manager who will be reachable whenever you need to speak with them. We appreciate this isn’t a unique selling point. Still, we are always surprised when liaising with new agencies who are amending their PSL because some payroll providers are almost impossible to contact when you need them the most. Not Churchill Knight, though; we’re contactable when you need us via telephone and email.

Request a SafeRec demonstration with Churchill Knight Umbrella today

Churchill Knight Umbrella is delighted to be SafeRec certified because it allows us to prove we are compliant and provides additional reassurance and protection for our employees and partnered agencies. If you want to learn more about SafeRec and why partnering with Churchill Knight Umbrella will provide your agency with the best protection in the industry, please call our dedicated Agency Support Team on 0808 2525533 or contact us by completing the short form here.