Reed

This is by far the worst company I have ever worked with in my life. I urge everyone to avoid this umbrella company, I cannot express enough how much stress I have been put though due to repeated, unnecessary complications. There has been a series of underpayments and miscommunications. The way this company dealt with the earlier cyber attack was appalling. Not only is my personal information possibly leaked, they’ve on more than one occasion ESTIMATED what I should be paid - this being much less than the correct amount. One week they paid me £0.02. You read that correctly. With this company, it’s not only constant technical issues arising - their customer service lacks severely. I don’t know what the training process is for parasol employees is, but if you expect at least the bare minimum customer service, then please lower your expectations. Unbelievably apathetic employees who are limited to copy and paste responses. The managers are no exception to this - who offer call backs with no possible timeframe at all and emails with the exact same copy and paste responses you get on live chats. Why not raise a complaint you may wonder? I have. No acknowledgment, no correspondence, no resolution offered. I’ve saved many screenshots of their failings, not that they’re at all interested in feedback or trying to better themselves. This does not feel like a genuine company who are subject to rules and regulations at all. It genuinely feels like a group of people on the street got together and thought let’s do this. No experience, no processes, just winging absolutely everything. I’ve cut my role short and found a new position entirely due to the weekly stress of having to contact these people to sort out yet another issue. I can’t underestimate how relieved I am to never have to deal with these people again. Do NOT join this company.

This is by far the worst company I have ever worked with in my life. I urge everyone to avoid this umbrella company, I cannot express enough how much stress I have been put though due to repeated, unnecessary complications. There has been a series of underpayments and miscommunications. The way this company dealt with the earlier cyber attack was appalling. Not only is my personal information possibly leaked, they’ve on more than one occasion ESTIMATED what I should be paid - this being much less than the correct amount. One week they paid me £0.02. You read that correctly. With this company, it’s not only constant technical issues arising - their customer service lacks severely. I don’t know what the training process is for parasol employees is, but if you expect at least the bare minimum customer service, then please lower your expectations. Unbelievably apathetic employees who are limited to copy and paste responses. The managers are no exception to this - who offer call backs with no possible timeframe at all and emails with the exact same copy and paste responses you get on live chats. Why not raise a complaint you may wonder? I have. No acknowledgment, no correspondence, no resolution offered. I’ve saved many screenshots of their failings, not that they’re at all interested in feedback or trying to better themselves. This does not feel like a genuine company who are subject to rules and regulations at all. It genuinely feels like a group of people on the street got together and thought let’s do this. No experience, no processes, just winging absolutely everything. I’ve cut my role short and found a new position entirely due to the weekly stress of having to contact these people to sort out yet another issue. I can’t underestimate how relieved I am to never have to deal with these people again. Do NOT join this company.

Same company, same owners, different identity. Smoke and Mirrors.

Letters from client issued to contractors last week of January to explain blanket ban. Client is offering FTCs or inside through agency whose options are - selected brollys, PAYE or Deemed Payroll. No rate rises to compensate for loss. Some contractors walking, some are staying taking a variety of these options.

Blanket bans of PSC, no SDS. Told we had to start with umbrella or PAYE from Jan 1st 2021 to apparently reduce the risk to the bank, i.e. if a contractor didn’t like it the bank could find a replacement before April 2021. All us contractors got together and asked to at the very least start PAYE/Umbrella from April 6th. The bank had a committee meeting and decided to force us PAYE/Umbrella from March 1st. Still a month before the legislation. Frustrated as still messes up tax and accounting year.

I'm a new hire and have been advised I'll have to join via PAYE. No prospect of the Bank changing its position on IR35

Out right ban on PSCs. Complete circus during Dec and Jan as the resourcing firms grappled with the new changes. Rate cut by 25% which essentially means the contractor is now paying employers NI! What a shambles..

project continuity terrible as contractors leave on one weeks notice. Only thing HR can provide program managers is FTC which only attracts temps. Shame they can't form contracts for PSC any more to get their projects complete.

Lip service from Head of HR stating that all contingent workers would be individually assessed. No real surprise that 99% of decisions are inside IR35. Management have no clue of the impact this will have on project delivery. No consultation with contractors, just a template email sent out to workers. Time to move on.

I took the role as I was told it would be for 6-9 months but shortly after starting at the end of last year found out by my own searching that PSCs are banned and had this confirmed by my recruitment firm early this year. The project I am working on will be severely impacted as a fair few contractors were working on it and now have to leave

Decision provided last week. Maybe delayed to 5th April, given recent HMRC announcement.

No negotiation, difficult to get info on terms, expected to swap over with no job offer presented. Employers NI being taken off day rate. Truly horrible experience. Lots of key project positions are being vacated but those staying only been given short PAYE deals so are feeling they may leave too. This is a regulatory project.

CA appointed Reed as the one stop agency and with regards to IR35 they confirmed no more PSC engagement as blanket. Reed has sent termination notice and given list of 14 umbrella to choose from.

A complete shambles. HSBC taken a blanket approach on IR35...exactly what HMRC wanted. Agency have been extremely poor, amending contract dates without even informing contractors and unwilling to explain the 23% reduction in day rate...not very transparent.

No psc

30% pay cut first and foremost, that's before PAYE. Keep telling everyone that their IR35 policy is simply that it will be 100% cost neutral to them. Let's see how that pans out, eh?

No tool used, blanket rule applied

Lloyds have taken a risk adverse approach and are effectively making contract roles redundant from March 2020. Lloyds are hoping a majority of contractors are prepared to take the hit and switch to umbrella whereas a few have accepted perm roles. Lloyds are very cagey about the impact but will anticipate a phone call for help in March/April - fingers crossed!

Still waiting to find out arrangements. Decision being cut to the wire.

Due to the non-solicitation clause which all contractors have if coming through an agency, ALL contractors have to leave in Mid-Feb. That is approx around 2,000 staff. I know of cases where most or all of the team is leaving, projects getting scrapped or delayed considerably, and due to the paltry salary rates they're offering, most contractors who qualify to take on a PAYE contract (ie they came direct and not through an agency) are rejecting them. Barclays have always had a reputation of not treating contractors well, but this is a true "cheers, now f***off approach.

Only PAYE offer on table. Take it or leave it.

Not only is HSBC making a blanket IR35 assessment, but it also passes on the the worker the cost of its national insurance contributions. Disgraceful

Hsbc will also not allow 3rd party suppliers to use contractors