Management Information Sheet
Use of non-UK registered employment agencies
Norfolk County Council has recently been made aware of potential risks to schools and other entities arising from the use of non-UK registered employment agencies. Non-UK includes those agencies registered in the Channel Islands.
Schools need to ensure that they only engage with, and recruit staff via, agencies that are complying with:
UK tax and National Insurance (NI) regulations
UK legislation (including employment, agency worker and asylum and immigration law)
statutory body requirements i.e.Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education - 2006
Failure to ensure that agencies engaged by schools meet the UK requirements increases significantly the risk that schools are not meeting their statutory obligations. This could lead to:
severe penalties being imposed by HMRC upon individual schools for non-compliance of tax and NI requirements
severe penalties being imposed if an agency worker does not have the right to work in the UK
safeguarding issues and children being at risk if all the required employment checks (for example Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced barred list checks) are not undertaken
Schools may recruit staff from outside the UK through an agency but it is recommended that they verify with the agency that they meet the relevant UK requirements detailed above. This will include the checks that would apply to a directly employed worker such as establishing the right to work in the UK and payment of NI. Therefore, schools are strongly advised to use UK-registered agencies with a global reach, and to obtain assurance in writing from those agencies that they comply with these requirements
Any concerns about tax and NI matters should be notified to your Finance Support Officer in the School's Finance Team, in order for further checks to be undertaken.
Any recruitment or safeguarding queries should be raised with HR Direct.
Schools need to ensure that they only engage with, and recruit staff via, agencies that are complying with:
UK tax and National Insurance (NI) regulations
UK legislation (including employment, agency worker and asylum and immigration law)
statutory body requirements i.e.Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education - 2006
Failure to ensure that agencies engaged by schools meet the UK requirements increases significantly the risk that schools are not meeting their statutory obligations. This could lead to:
severe penalties being imposed by HMRC upon individual schools for non-compliance of tax and NI requirements
severe penalties being imposed if an agency worker does not have the right to work in the UK
safeguarding issues and children being at risk if all the required employment checks (for example Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced barred list checks) are not undertaken
Schools may recruit staff from outside the UK through an agency but it is recommended that they verify with the agency that they meet the relevant UK requirements detailed above. This will include the checks that would apply to a directly employed worker such as establishing the right to work in the UK and payment of NI. Therefore, schools are strongly advised to use UK-registered agencies with a global reach, and to obtain assurance in writing from those agencies that they comply with these requirements
Any concerns about tax and NI matters should be notified to your Finance Support Officer in the School's Finance Team, in order for further checks to be undertaken.
Any recruitment or safeguarding queries should be raised with HR Direct.