To comply with the Conduct Regulations 2003, from 6th of April 2020, agencies are now required to give Key Information Document (KID) to all their agency workers, including those placed with Umbrella companies, before agreeing the terms with an employment business.
KID has been introduced at the very inception of the 2020 financial year, and it is primarily produced by an agency, which hires contractors or temporary workers. The primary intention for creating the Key Information Document was to empower the workers. Furthermore, to provide them transparency regarding their payments (fees and tax deductions) and the supply chain system of any designated assignment.
The KID form should consist of a few aspects, such as -
- The working hours, job specifications, and provided salary.
- It should define the relationship between the employer and the employee.
- The entitled benefits should be mentioned.
- The identification of the employer and who will be responsible for the payment of the employee.
- An estimation of the net payment, including the tax deductions and the fee charged.
Format/Template to use
Amongst the recent amendments, one should realise the importance of the KID, and employers should maintain the format of the said document. The form should be labelled with its title and should include a brief description of its purpose.
The A4 length paper should be straightforward and easily comprehensible. Further, it should contain the address and contact details of the organisations. If one cannot incorporate every detail, he should make a summary of the essential aspects of the document.
The agenciescan provide the information to the workers using the templates published by the government depending on how the worker has been engaged –whether through an umbrella companyor Personal Service Company.
From an enforcement perspective, EAS will look to ensure that agency workers have received a correct and accurate key information document. EAS can be contacted at eas@beis.gov.uk.
Taylor Committee recommendations
To summarise, the Taylor Committee is a BEIS consultation affiliated program, which released its review regarding the Modern Work Practices in an agency. The committee raised a few issues about consultation, and made some recommendations, to the intermediary agencies, such as Umbrella company. The suggestions extended by the Taylor Committee is as follows -
- The organisation should make it mandatory to ensure that each employee holds the right to equal pay.
- After 12 weeks of service, a client should determine whether he requires the service of the contractor or not. If the client requests the same service further, then he should produce a permanent contract for the contractor.
- The government of the United Kingdom should extend the GLAA license to various other sectors.
- The employment status rule should be revised to ensure that each worker, including the agency employee, are availing equal benefits.
- Lastly, the Taylor recommendations suggest that the law should be reformed to ensure that Umbrella company, agencies, end-users, are to be held responsible for any breach of the law of employment.
Conclusion
Considering the various amendments the UK government is bringing about, it is easy to say that the documents of any organisation will be meticulously created. Further, such modifications would introduce a transparent and specific work environment.