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Signing Up to an Umbrella – Is It Difficult?

Signing Up to an Umbrella – Is It Difficult?

by on May 2, 2023

One of the common misconceptions we hear about umbrella companies is that it’s hard to sign up to one. With Payme that’s not the case – we make it as simple as possible. Here we talk you through the steps involved to demonstrate just how easy it is.

 

Getting started

There are two ways to sign up to Payme’s compliant and flexible range of products, whether that’s our Umbrella or our Construction Industry Scheme. 

First of all you can fill in the payroll services pre-registration form here and a member of our helpful and knowledgeable team will get back to you. 

The second way is simply to call us on 0333 200 0845 and in a matter of minutes we’ll have most of your registration completed. Sometimes your agency will already have given us your details but usually you’ll call us directly. During the phone call we’ll verify your details, talk you through our relationship with your recruitment agency, and how you’ll be paid – this will depend on three things: if you’re using our Umbrella, our CIS or even PAYE, which agency you signed up with, and what role you’ll be performing. As always, we’ll guide you through your choices to help you decide which of our services is best for you.  

We’ll then run you through the wide range of choices we offer our new starters. This will include the way your holiday pay is paid to you. This can be ‘advanced’ and paid at the same time as your weekly pay, or ‘accrued’ and put into your holiday pot so that you can withdraw it at a time that suits you best. It will also include details of our Rewards Scheme which gives our workers a range of amazing savings such as discounts on electronics, fashion, travel, restaurants, food and grocery shopping, as well as access to a 24/7 GP Helpline, and Fuel Cards, helping you save more of your hard-earned money.

We’ll also talk you through your Pension options and make you aware that you can take advantage of salary sacrifice for pension contributions – something not all umbrella companies offer. 

If you haven’t used an umbrella before, your payslips can seem confusing. We’ll discuss how your payslip will look and talk you through the breakdown of deductions, statutory deductions and weekly fees, so that you’re making a fully-informed decision. We can also provide you with an illustration of the amount of pay you’ll take home so that before you commit yourself you have time to reflect and decide if you’re completely happy to go ahead with us. 

There will never be any high-pressure sales tactics from our team, just sound advice delivered in a friendly and helpful way. Our Registrations team are on hand to discuss any aspect of your registration with you and answer any questions you might have. 

 

Following up

Once you’ve completed your registration we’ll send you two emails:

The first is a welcome message which outlines all the elements of the phone call you’ve already had with a member of our team. It will contain all the details of the options you’ve chosen during the call, as well as instructions on how to set up your new online portal which gives you access to your payslips and contracts. 

It will also tell you where you need to send any required Right To Work (RtW) documentation or ID. More details of exactly what you can use can be found here. We’ll always inform you of what we need from you to be able to pay you, and we’ll give you as much time and warning as we can to get your account up and running, even at short notice. 

The second email will be a link to our online portal which, once you’ve set up your account, allows you to access all your documents, such as payslips and P60s, throughout your time with us. It also provides a place for you to ask questions on our message board which we’ll respond to as quickly as possible. There is also an email facility, if you’d prefer to use that. 

 

GDPR and Privacy

We take your privacy and security very seriously and have both a GDPR and a Privacy policy in place in order to protect you and your personal information. Details of these policies will also be included in the new starter registration email we send. 

Umbrella working is a reliable, low-cost and flexible option, and registration with an umbrella company shouldn’t be complicated. To discover for yourself just how simple it can be, call us on 0333 200 0845, email us at info@payme.co.uk, or fill in the form here.