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In a major surprise within the 2024 UK Budget, the Labour government's first in 14 years, the devil was in the detail, and in our case, that was as deep as page 124 of the Budget Report. Point 5.26 identifies that from April 2026, recruitment agencies will bear legal responsibility for PAYE on payments made to umbrella company workers. Further detail on the supporting policy paper confirms that this responsibility will remain with the ‘agency’ that contracts directly to the end client.
The dramatic switch wasn’t completely unexpected since HMRC announced their intentions earlier this year in Spotlight 64. However, what was unexpected was for this update to be included now, and that approach could create some shock or instability within the UK recruitment supply chain.
But that isn’t the case at Worksome.
Worksome’s Steadfast Approach to Client & Worker Protections
We always recognised the fragility of the UK umbrella industry and the intention of such control from HMRC. Because of this, we chose to take on the responsibility of being the Employer of Record in the UK market right at the very the beginning of us operating here.
This approach removes unnecessary risk and administration from our supply chain, protecting both our clients, our workers, and Worksome. Over time, we have, and will continue to, fine-tune and improve our processes, ensuring they comply with the relevant laws and also align with our ethos of removing friction.
At Worksome, we welcome this move from the UK government, but do so without any trepidation. We stand in a proud position of saying that such changes will not affect Worksome, our clients or their workers. We made the moral decision to operate this way years ago and it’s great to see everyone is now having to catch us up.