Agency charging me fees i was not told about!

21LoveLondon wrote: »

Thank you everyone,
I've decided to go to Citizens Advice Bureau and see if they can help me, it's just too confusing!

Its not confusing.

The employer is paying a day rate for you, and the agency deduct all due taxes out of that and pay you the difference.

As Employers NI, Apprenticeship levy, etc have to be paid, its coming out of that day rate.

Samsung_Note2 wrote: »

If thats the case the Agency need to tell the employee...they cant say your pay is £10 an hour and you will work 8hrs a day.

If the employee is liable for employers NI that needs to be made clear along with Umbrella company fee etc.

Even then you should be able to claim it back..we did when we were paid via umbrella company.

By the sounds of it, they already did, however the O/P assumed it didnt apply to them.

I'd be very surprised if you could legally claim back employers NI as a matter of course. There may have been specific circumstances, but its not the default.

NBLondon wrote: »

Hang on. The Apprenticeship Levy is a levy on the employer (whether that's the workplace employer or the umbrella company or agency or all three) not on the employee. So it shouldn't be appearing on the payslip or coming off the OP's gross. Definitely sounds like the agency is not being clear to the OP!

Yes, however it will come out of the day rate that the O/P has agreed with the agency / client.

As the O/P is taking a PAYE wage then all the deductions will come out of that gross amount. That means Employers NI, Apprenticeship levy, Income Tax, Employees NI, etc. Also, allowance for holidays come out of that too.

The O/P has confused the day rate agreed with the client as being their gross pay. Its not.

The client has agreed to pay a day rate for the O/P - to include any deductions.

Its not that the O/P hasnt been told. Its that they have assumed / not taken in the implications.

Its a standard contract arrangement. I work within that regime myself currently as an IT Contractor in an inside IR35 role.

Samsung_Note2 wrote: »

Glad its clear to you..clear as mud to me..:D

But then i've never worked under such a system,and sounds like neither has OP.

I've only worked for an agency and been paid via agency with tax and NI being taken..or as self employed and claimed anything they deducted back on self assessment via my accountant.

Agreed. However that doesnt mean the O/P wasnt told - its just that they didnt understand what they were told. There is a difference.

Also, theres a difference between being an agency worker and a contractor. An agency worker will work through an agency and go wherever they are needed to work OR sometimes just to a specific role at a specific location. A contractor gets paid a day rate and pays any due taxes from this.

From the O/Ps perspective, they thought they were signing up as an agency worker, however they were signing up as a contractor. They have already told us this - "I completed and the payroll contractor form with my bank details. The terms and conditions were relating to contractors / sub contractors. But because I'm classed as PAYE I assumed I was employed by the agency. "

So its not that they werent told - they just didnt understand what they were signing up to.

leslieknope wrote: »

err no employee should be paying for the apprenticeship levy at all. it's a levy for the company, which they can reinvest into their company through training or relinquish to the central apprenticeship fund.

if you're being charged for this levy you're either the owner of a £3million company or you're being !!!!!!

Err, you've no idea what you're talking about.

If you're a contractor and getting a day rate then thats how it works through the agency / umbrella company.

The client is paying a day rate for your services, any taxes due come out of that day rate, including Employers NI, Apprenticeship levy, etc. The agency / umbrella company are obliged to deduct those.

The employee isnt "paying" it, its coming out of the day rate.

The "problem" here is the O/P has seen the day rate and "assumed" that was their pay. As a contractor it isnt (for that type of contract arrangement).

You havent grasped that this is not an employer / employee relationship but a client / contractor relationship as per what the O/P has already told us - "I completed and the payroll contractor form with my bank details. The terms and conditions were relating to contractors / sub contractors. But because I'm classed as PAYE I assumed I was employed by the agency. "