Contracting through ARG
How you get paid, what comes out, who decides your status, and what you need before you can start.
The money questions are first on purpose. They are the ones that decide whether an assignment is worth taking and the ones most often left until after you have said yes.
What ARG commits to
- A Key Information Document before you agree terms — your legal right, issued without being asked.
- The assignment rate and your expected take-home shown as two separate numbers, not one.
- The IR35 position stated in the brief, before you accept rather than after.
- Weekly pay against an approved timesheet, with the approval route named up front.
- Competence and site requirements checked at shortlist, so your start date is real.
How and when do I get paid?
Weekly, against an approved timesheet. ARG confirms the rate, the pay cycle and the approval route in writing before the assignment starts, and that confirmation is the Key Information Document described below. If a timesheet is not approved in time, ARG tells you the same day rather than letting it go quiet.
What is a Key Information Document and will I get one?
It is a document every employment business must give a work-seeker before agreeing terms, under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 as amended in April 2020. It sets out who employs you, your minimum rate, any deductions, holiday entitlement and a worked example of your take-home pay. It is your legal right, not a courtesy, and ARG issues one before you commit to anything.
Umbrella or PAYE — what is the difference to me?
Under agency PAYE, ARG pays you directly and deducts tax and National Insurance at source. Under an umbrella, a third-party company employs you, invoices ARG, and pays you after its own deductions — which include employer National Insurance and the apprenticeship levy, so the assignment rate and your take-home are not the same number. ARG shows you both figures before you decide, and supplies only through umbrellas it has checked rather than whichever provider somebody else directs you to.
Who decides my IR35 status?
For engagements with medium and large private-sector clients, the end client decides and must give you a Status Determination Statement setting out its reasoning, with a route to disagree. Companies meeting the small-company thresholds are exempt and the determination stays with your own limited company. ARG tells you which it is in the brief, not after you have accepted. This is a summary of the framework rather than advice on your engagement.
What insurance do I need?
It depends on how you are engaged and what the site requires. Through an umbrella or agency PAYE you are covered by that employer’s policies for the work. Through your own limited company you will usually need employer’s and public liability, and professional indemnity where the work is advisory. ARG tells you the client’s specific requirement at brief stage so you are not buying cover you do not need or discovering a gap on day one.
What will I need before I can start on site?
Right to work, the competence the role gates on, and whatever the site adds on top. In ARG’s sectors that usually means one of CSCS or SMSTS, 18th Edition, CompEx, MPQC or shotfiring competence under the Quarries Regulations 1999, NEBOSH, or GWO and an offshore medical. ARG checks these at shortlist rather than after an offer, and tells you about site inductions, medicals and card checks at the same time, because together those are your real start date.
Can a contract assignment become permanent?
Often, and it is a legitimate route — it is the one hiring decision made with months of evidence rather than two interviews. If it is what you want, say so early and ARG will raise it. If it is not, say that too; a career contractor is not a permanent candidate who has not been asked.
Not tax or legal advice. The IR35 and employment-status summaries above describe the framework, not your engagement. Take your own advice on anything marginal, and ask ARG for the written determination — you are entitled to it.
Where to go next
Between assignments?
Pick your sectors and we will email you when contract cover comes up. Day-rate briefs move in 24 to 72 hours, so the list is where you hear first.