Fees charged by payroll companies and or employment services companies for their services

You asked

The information we request concerns the charges made by pay roll or employment services companies for providing and processing labour in the housebuilding and / or construction sectors. It might be helpful to explain the information that we want to be disclosed by way of an example, which we provide below.

All building and construction works require labour and building sites to complete work. But a developer (or housebuilder) will not usually employ all of the people on site. Often the developer will contract for certain works, plumbing and drainage, or for ground works, to be completed by contractors. The contractors will often sub-contract to other providers and sometimes individual labourers. Within this context, the contractor / sub-contractor (as the case may be) may not engage the workers directly with a contract of employment. Rather, they will be engaged through a Payroll Company or Employment Services Company. A Payroll Company or Employment Services Company will typically be responsible for ensuring that:

1. The workers are paid at the correct time and at the correct rate;
2. Contractual matters and employment law matters relating to the labour providers (where applicable); and
3. Tax and compliance matters.

As we understand the operation of the market, the payroll providers will charge the contractor a fee for their services and sometimes this fee will be charged per worker.

The information that we request relates to the fees charged by Payroll Companies and / or Employment Services companies for their services.

We would be grateful if you would confirm:

1. Whether ONS holds / collates any information concerning the charges made by these companies to contracts;
2. If so, whether ONS holds / collates this information in the housebuilding and / or construction sectors;
3. If so, whether ONS holds / collates information that suggests any coloration between amounts charged by Payroll Companies and / or Employment Services companies and fraud;

We would be grateful if the above information could be disclosed to us (if it is indeed held / collated by ONS).

We said

Thank you for your request.

Unfortunately, we do not hold the information you have requested and we are also unaware of an alternative government department who may collect this data. Apologies that we could not be more helpful.

However, we have located the following websites, which may be of use to you:

https://www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/ - Construction Leadership Council

https://www.hbf.co.uk/ - Home Builders Federation

https://www.builders.org.uk/home/ - National Federation of Builders