Joint and Several Liability: What's changing in April 2026?
This April brings a number of UK employment-law changes.
Under the new Joint Several Liability legislation, if an umbrella company fails to correctly pay PAYE or National Insurance Contributions (NICs), HMRC can reclaim the full unpaid amount from another party in the hiring chain. This would most likely fall to the recruitment agency or the End Client.
What's changed?
Previously, demonstrating "reasonable care" (such as conducting audits or compliance checks) offered some level of protection.
Under the new legislation, this defense no longer applies.
Even if due diligence has been carried out, HMRC can collect missing tax from anywhere in the chain if they believe they are responsible.
What this means for you
This change increases the risk across the entire contractor supply chain. To remain compliant, businesses should:
Reassess contractor engagement models
Review contracts and job materials
Update pay bands
Work only with trusted, audited partners
How Vallum supports you
Compliance truly isn't something to leave to chance.
We work with a trusted network of umbrella providers and compliance partners, ensuring engagement is structured correctly from the outset.
We support both clients and contractors in building compliant, transparent, and low-risk contractor arrangements.
If you're unsure how this changes impact you, speak to our team.
