Prepare For IR35 With Simple Assessments

The Coronavirus pandemic has meant that the off-payroll (IR35) reforms have been postponed until April 2021. This is good news for many recruitment agencies as it allows more time to consider how to mitigate the impact and prepare.

To take advantage of the additional preparation time, agencies and end hirers should begin to make individual assessments and look at how ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ IR35 engagements will be managed.

The place to start? A reliable assessment tool.

Using an assessment tool that you can trust is integral to ensuring that agency liability is minimised, and individual contractors are confident in the accuracy and fairness of their status determination statement (SDS).

To help you assess your workforce in a quick, easy and insurable manner, JSA Group has developed IR35 Complete; a holistic suite of solutions ideal for helping contractors, agencies, and end-hirers navigate through the complexities of the IR35 reforms. IR35 Complete offers flexible solutions for all areas of the supply chain and reliable assessments for complete compliance.

What are the key features of JSA’s assessment tool?

1. Efficiency: If you’re looking to assess your entire contingent workforce before the implementation of the IR35 reforms, you need a tool that is going to be simple to use, quick, and hassle free – allowing you to process hundreds of assessments within a short period. With JSA’s IR35 Complete, at your agency’s prompt, relevant members of the supply chain will answer a simple set of online questions, which will provide a status determination statement within a matter of minutes. JSA’s tool offers an almost instant decision, and decision times will never be affected by volume, so you can assess your entire contingent workforce without delay. 
2. Insurable outcomes: Now that you may be liable for any unpaid tax or an incorrect status determination statements, you need to know that you’re covered and not at risk of challenges from HMRC. By using an assessment tool like JSA’s that will always give you a definitive answer, even in borderline cases, you can be sure that you’re always operating compliantly. Plus, for further peace of mind, JSA’s tool offers insurable outcomes, so you can mitigate risk and ensure that you’re protected from any future liability. 
3. Transparency: An integral part of keeping all members of the supply chain happy and worry-free is clear communication so everyone knows where they stand. JSA’s IR35 Complete assessment tool ensures all relevant parties are acting transparently throughout the assessment and reassessment processes, meaning you can check the compliance of a contractor quickly with a couple of clicks. JSA’s assessment tool can also be white labelled as desired, giving end-hirers confidence in your agency’s offering and communication strategy. 
4. Regular reassessment: Contracts and assignments change over time, so it is important that you have the flexibility to reassess contractors at regular intervals during long assignments, as well as whenever they take up a new role. This will ensure that they’re never caught out, and you’re not faced with tax repayments. With JSA’s online assessment tool, you have complete access to summary reports whenever you need them to ensure ease of auditing and complete compliance all the time.

The next steps

Once you have a status determination statement you can trust, it is important that your contractors know their options, especially if their status has changed. JSA Group offers a range of solutions:

• Switching to Umbrella: JSA Group has significant experience in migrating large numbers of contractors to Umbrella.
• Continuing to work through a PSC: For those contractors who are ‘outside IR35’ and wishing to set up a limited company, JSA Group provides an excellent PSC service with straight-forward expert advice.
• Toggle between Umbrella and PSC: It may seem as though the simplest option is to restrict contractors to one assignment type: either all ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ IR35. But with JSA’s IR35 Complete, there is the option to toggle between the two. This will reassure agencies that valuable members of their workforce are happy with their flexibility and finances, while still upholding their responsibilities for compliance.
• PEO (Outsourced Employment Solution): PEO solutions give agencies the benefit of outsourcing their payroll, with compliance issues taken care of.

Ensuring complete compliance and a happy contingent workforce starts with a reliable and insurable assessment and flexible work solutions to suit end hirers, agencies, and contractors. With JSA, any combination of the options listed above are at your disposal following a reliable status assessment. Expert advisors with significant experience in providing specialist services for recruitment agencies, end hirers, and contractors are available to deliver individual advice and unlimited support. And with time on your side, you can make preparations which best suit your agency, contractors, and clients.

Want to see how it works? To book your free online demonstration, contact our agency team at: [email protected]

Or, you can find out more by visiting JSA’s IR35 Hub