As a supply teacher or education professional, you’ll always want to make sure that you’re paid on time and without any headaches. Part of this process is finding an umbrella company you trust, and who have a good working relationship with your teaching recruitment agency.

On occasions, you may find yourself wanting to switch umbrella companies because either;

• You’ve had problems with your umbrella company
• A new agency won’t work with your current umbrella
• On the recommendation of a friend or colleague.

The process of switching over is straightforward, but you’ll need to give your new umbrella company and your recruitment agency a couple of weeks’ notice to ensure it all goes smoothly. Once you’ve spoken to your recruitment agency to make sure they’re happy to work with your new contractor umbrella company, there are three things you need to do:

• Register with the new umbrella company, and give them details for your agency so that they can set up a contract.
• Inform your current umbrella company that you’ll be leaving, and ask them to send out your P45 once you’ve had your final payment through them*.
• Confirm with your teaching agency that you’re now employed by the new umbrella company, and that they should no longer make payments to the old umbrella.

* Although any compliant umbrella company shouldn’t have a notice period or charge a fee to leave, some do, so make sure you know where you stand before committing to a change-over. Always ask an umbrella company about this before registering!

If you make the switch and are paid before you receive your P45, you can fill in a P46 for the new umbrella company as part of the registration process. This ensures you’re put on the most suitable temporary tax code until your P45 arrives, and prevents you from paying an incorrect amount of tax.

That’s it! The whole process shouldn’t take more than a week and can be done without any breaks or delays to your weekly pay. The best umbrella companies will handle all the paperwork and admin for you – you shouldn’t have to spend more than 30 minutes sorting everything out, so you’re free to concentrate on your work.

Orange Genie Education are specialists in the education sector and have several unique benefits for supply teachers, including a flexible margin, guaranteed payment before the weekend, extended opening hours on paydays and free safeguarding training. If you’re considering switching over to Orange Genie Education, simply give us a call on 01296 468483 or email education@orangegenie.com.

• Joining Orange Genie Education is really quick and easy. Get started HERE >>
• Read our positive testimonials from teaching agencies we work with, click HERE >>