When it comes to IR35, meeting the compliance requirements from the outset is essential for agencies to help avoid facing financial liability. However, for recruitment agencies that are processing and placing large quantities of contractors daily, managing everyone compliantly while mitigating the disruption was never going to be easy.
In response to concerns expressed by their agency partners, JSA Group set to work developing their technology solution – an IR35 Assessment Tool called IR35 Complete.
This tool uses the latest Microsoft technology stack to offer agencies, end hirers, and contractors a seamless and automated tech solution to their IR35 concerns. IR35 Complete was designed by a team of specialists, who worked closely with the IR35 experts within JSA Group, to combine a variety of secure modules into a full workforce management system. A complete supply chain solution, IR35 Complete gives every party in the supply chain the ability to complete assessments quickly, with little disruption, while compiling a full audit and detailed history which can stand up against HMRC (if challenged).
Del Williams, Sales Director at JSA said: “Our IR35 Complete Assessment Solution was carefully designed with industry feedback in mind. We knew that recruiters needed the system to be robust so that it could be used by multiple agencies, processing hundreds of contractors at any given time. We put our tool through a rigorous testing process to ensure that our IR35 solution is as robust as possible, using all of the latest technology modules that guarantee it can host and maintain large quantities of recruiters simultaneously, adapting to their individual needs. This means no matter how many contractors you’re processing – it won’t slow down.”
“For many agencies, a key concern was how to place contractors in the correct roles compliantly without disrupting the placement process. We spent a lot of time working with the software developers behind our innovative tool to ensure it could be seamlessly integrated into any major CRM to form a central hub of compliance information and contractor details. Once integrated, we also have the built-in capacity to upload agencies approved supplier lists. So, whether your contractor needs to switch to Umbrella or can remain working through their PSC, they have a compliant payroll solution at their fingertips, with minimum agency involvement required.”
In a discussion regarding the development of IR35 Complete, Del said: “Our software engineers provided us with a creative clickable prototype as part of our development process. This allowed IR35 experts, industry specialists, and insurers to get involved in the construction of the tool to make sure that all the compliance needs were met, while the portal itself remained intuitive and user-friendly. As part of the development process, all key stakeholders were able to log in as different types of users (agencies, contractors, and end hirers) to ensure the user journey was efficient and straight-forward for all – leaving little margin for error or complications.”
The expert engineers behind JSA’s cloud-based assessment tool utilised the latest programming frameworks to tackle some key considerations in the challenge of navigating IR35:
Flexibility
Meeting recruitment agencies’ concerns was a top priority for JSA’s development team, who ensured they built the tool to be inherently flexible and customisable. All agencies who decide to use IR35 Complete can configure their contractors’ unique user-journey, adapting the questions they ask with the help of JSA’s expert team, to ensure their specific needs and compliance responsibilities are met.
Plus, the user interface has the unique ability to be white labelled to any agency’s branding; enhancing the user experience and enabling agencies to have a competitive advantage when presenting their assessment solution to end hirers.
Security
With the threat of cyber-security ever-growing, a primary consideration for all parties was, of course, data protection and security.
“Agencies we’ve partnered with are becoming increasingly concerned with how to collect, store, and manage accurate details on hundreds of different contractors”, Del stated.
IR35 Complete was built with a granular level of layered security including cloud-based software and authentication using a secured username and password mechanism to ensure compliance with all GDPR practices and regulations. This means agencies, end hirers, and contractors can feel safe using the new tool, knowing their data is being handled correctly.
Simplicity
To make the assessment as smooth as possible for all parties to be prepared in time for April, IR35 Complete has a simple user journey. Once the agency begins the process, the end client, and then contractor, can sign up and provide the necessary information in a minimum number of clicks. This means fewer tech problems, as well as quicker and simpler assessments.
Giving his final thoughts on the tool, Del said: “IR35 Complete is the best way to mitigate the impact of IR35 for recruitment agencies. Not only is it quick, efficient, robust, and insurable, but the user interface has been carefully designed to allow agencies to take users on a seamless branded journey to quickly assess and resolve their IR35 concerns.”
To find out more about IR35 Complete by JSA Group, you can click here to visit their IR35 Hub.
