Umbrella Payslip Checker 2026/27 | Audit Deductions & Rates

To check an umbrella payslip, verify that the gross assignment fee matches your agency timesheet. From this fee, the umbrella should only deduct its agreed margin (typically £20 to £30 per week), secondary Employer Class 1 NI (15.0% on earnings above £5,000 per year / £96.15 per week in 2026/27), and the Apprenticeship Levy (0.5% of deemed gross pay). On the resulting deemed gross salary, verify that standard PAYE Income Tax and Employee NI (8% up to £967/wk, 2% above) match statutory formulas.

By law, the employer must pay secondary Class 1 National Insurance to HMRC. However, in contracting, the agency quotes an ‘uplifted assignment rate’ intended to cover all employer employment costs. The umbrella company uses this gross client fee to fund employer NI (15% above £5,000) before paying you your taxable gross wage.

The Apprenticeship Levy is a statutory UK government charge of 0.5% levied on all employers with an annual paybill exceeding £3 million. Because virtually all commercial umbrella companies employ thousands of contractors and exceed this threshold, the 0.5% levy is deducted from the assignment rate.

Common red flags include: processing fees or administrative charges in addition to the agreed margin; inflated employer NI that fails to apply the £5,000 annual secondary threshold; unlawful deductions for employer liability insurance; unexplained ’employment costs’ or elective loans; and schemes paying you in non-taxable annuities or advances (which are disguised remuneration avoidance schemes subject to HMRC penalties).

No. Under the Working Time Regulations, umbrella employees are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid statutory leave (typically 12.07% of pay). You can choose to have holiday pay ‘rolled up’ and paid in every weekly/monthly payslip, or accrued into a holiday fund. If accrued, the umbrella must pay it when you take leave or upon leaving the umbrella; they cannot lawfully forfeit your accrued holiday pay.

Yes. The checker runs 100% locally in your web browser. No invoice numbers, names, employer details, or financial figures are sent over the internet or saved to our servers.

Skimming is an unethical practice where an umbrella company deducts small, unauthorised amounts from a contractor’s assignment rate in addition to their advertised margin. This often appears as inflated Employer National Insurance calculations (such as ignoring the statutory £5,000 annual secondary threshold), artificial charges for software, portal access, or employer liability insurance, or retaining unused holiday pay. Our checker audits every line with a £1.50 tolerance to immediately highlight margin skimming.

Under UK Working Time Regulations, umbrella contractors are entitled to 5.6 weeks (28 days) of paid statutory annual leave, equivalent to 12.07% of taxable pay. On an umbrella payslip, this is shown either as ‘Rolled-up Holiday Pay’ (advanced and paid out in every weekly or monthly pay packet) or ‘Accrued Holiday Pay’ (held in a ring-fenced fund until you take annual leave). Crucially, holiday pay must be funded from your gross assignment rate, not paid as an extra bonus by the umbrella.