JSL, PAYE payment and umbrella payroll

The relevant agency is jointly and severally liable with the umbrella company for PAYE amounts due in relation to qualifying umbrella company payments. Where there is no relevant agency, and in certain other cases defined by the legislation, the end client may be the relevant party. HMRC can recover an unpaid amount from a relevant party.

Due diligence remains important for provider selection, fraud prevention and wider governance, but the JSL rules focus on whether the correct PAYE amount has been paid. Checks and contractual indemnities do not themselves settle an unpaid amount.

Those controls can detect errors or confirm information. Fortis also supports a controlled payment outcome: the relevant party can retain the calculated PAYE/NIC amount and pay it directly to HMRC under the umbrella’s reference, with worker-level reconciliation.

No. Fortis validates calculations, creates payment instructions, records evidence and supports reconciliation. Payments are authorised and made through the participating organisations’ own banking arrangements.

No. The umbrella remains the worker’s employer and retains its employment obligations. The relevant party’s statutory JSL position and direct settlement of an amount do not, by themselves, transfer the employment relationship.

The precise operating model should be documented during onboarding. Fortis aligns the payroll calculation and RTI evidence within the controlled process so the parties can reconcile what was reported with what was paid.

The payment instruction records the umbrella’s PAYE reference and the relevant payment period. The resulting evidence is linked back to the pay run and the workers whose liabilities created the amount.

Fortis records an exception so the affected item can be corrected, reprocessed or held before release. The original issue and its resolution remain in the audit trail.

Later amendments must be processed and reconciled through an appropriate correction workflow. Fortis protection should be understood by reference to the liabilities correctly calculated, paid and reconciled through the system, not as a blanket promise covering unknown or external amounts.

Yes. Fortis is designed to map workers, assignments, supplying agencies, MSP tiers, end clients and approved umbrella providers, with consolidated reporting and provider controls.

Where the relevant PAYE/NIC amount has been correctly calculated and paid directly to HMRC, that agency-funded amount is not sitting in the umbrella’s bank account awaiting onward payment. Fortis retains the supporting payment and worker-level evidence.

No. Payment control and independent due diligence address different risks. Fortis combines the controlled payroll and payment process with Professional Passport’s wider review of the provider and its operations.

Use the precise evidenced description: the platform uses HMRC-recognised payroll software. HMRC does not endorse commercial JSL solutions, and website wording should not imply that it does.

Timing depends on the number of organisations, pay frequencies, data quality and integration route. Following discovery, Fortis should provide a documented implementation plan covering data mapping, provider onboarding, testing, banking procedures, user training and go-live.

Prospective clients should be able to review an anonymised worker-level audit trail, sample payment instruction, exceptions report, reconciliation output, security information and technical integration pack.