Umbrella PAYE for contractors

An umbrella company employs you as a contractor and handles your pay, tax and admin, so you can work across different assignments without running your own business. Sapphire’s Umbrella PAYE acts as your employer, processes your income through PAYE and sorts your income tax, National Insurance and benefits. For you, that means you focus on the work and leave the payroll and paperwork to Sapphire.

You sign a single employment contract with the umbrella company, then work across different assignments while staying employed by them throughout. With Sapphire’s Umbrella PAYE, your agency or client pays Sapphire for the work you’ve done. Sapphire then processes that income through PAYE, deducts your tax and National Insurance and pays you a net salary. You get continuous employment, one payslip and no business admin to manage between contracts.

Your pay starts from the assignment rate your agency or client agrees, which covers the cost of employing you. From that, the umbrella retains employment costs, then processes your gross salary, deducting PAYE and National Insurance before paying you your net pay. Sapphire shows every deduction clearly, so you can see exactly how your pay is worked out.

You’ll see income tax and employee National Insurance deducted through PAYE, plus any student loans and pension contributions once you’re enrolled. Your payslip also shows employment costs retained from the assignment rate before your gross salary, including employer National Insurance and the Apprenticeship Levy. Sapphire itemises each deduction on your payslip, so nothing is hidden and you can check your figures line by line.

Yes. As an employee of Sapphire’s Umbrella PAYE, you’re entitled to statutory holiday pay like any other employee. Your holiday pay comes from the assignment rate and Sapphire shows it clearly on your payslip, so you know exactly what you’ve accrued and what you’re paid. You can choose to have it paid as you go or held and paid when you take leave, depending on how your assignment is set up.

Yes. Under Sapphire’s Umbrella PAYE, you’re a full employee of Sapphire, not self-employed. You sign one employment contract that continues across assignments, even when you move between agencies or clients. That gives you continuous employment, which helps when you apply for a mortgage, finance or credit, along with the employment rights and benefits that come with employee status.

As an employee of Sapphire’s Umbrella PAYE, you get full statutory employment rights, including statutory holiday pay, statutory sick pay, maternity, paternity and adoption pay, and auto-enrolment into a workplace pension with the option to make salary sacrifice contributions into a private pension or SIPP.

You’re also covered by our insurance as standard: up to £10m under our Employers’ Liability cover, £10m under Public Liability and £5m under Professional Indemnity.

Because you stay employed between assignments, your rights and continuous service carry across contracts rather than resetting each time you start new work.

With Sapphire, umbrella workers can access a great package of added benefits and perks. It includes twice yearly bonuses alongside your usual pay, through our contractor profit-share programme. So far, we’ve shared over £1m with eligible contractors.

Sapphire also makes sure that umbrella contractors are covered for the unexpected costs we all face in life. If you’re signed up to our Umbrella Platinum service for an extra £6 a week, you can benefit from our health cash plan with Health Shield, personal injury cover with Aviva and early wage advances. You can claim up to £915 a year for health care costs, access financial support if involved in a work accident, or receive an early advance of up to £100 on your wages.

Yes. Sapphire’s Umbrella PAYE enrols you into a workplace pension through auto-enrolment, in line with your statutory rights as an employee. Beyond that, Sapphire also supports salary sacrifice contributions into any private pension or SIPP, which can be a tax-efficient way to build your retirement savings. All contributions show clearly on your payslip. If you’d rather not stay in the auto-enrolment scheme, you can opt out after enrolment and Sapphire will explain how.