NumberMill continue to pay furlough on all eligible contractors based on full average earnings.
However, you should be aware that Government issued guidance that Public Sector contingent workers can continue to be paid via the Public sector in the usual way. The guidance suggests that an agency can continue to invoice their public sector client, pay the contractor, retain their margin, even if they are unable to work due to Corona.
Full guidance can be found here:
The guidance states
“If Contingent Workers are unable to work due to COVID-19, for example, due to sickness, self-isolation, or the temporary closure of offices, they should be paid at 80% of their pay rate up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. This should be backdated to 1 March 2020 if necessary, and will be available initially for at least 3 months.”
This appears to be very similar to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, except that the usual payment chain is followed rather than workers’ being reclaimed from HMRC at a later date.
In essence, the public sector client should continue to pay their contingent workers, whether it would be directly, through recruitment businesses or umbrella employers. Arguably the public sector scheme is therefore, far simpler to implement as it is just business as usual in procurement terms, rather than requiring the supply chain to determine whether workers are eligible for furlough.
So our message to all public sector engagers of contingent workers is to urge them to use the public sector scheme and then you as an agency will also be able to recoup your usual margins. We do accept though, Public Sector bodies seem to either be unaware of this, or unwilling to transact it.