Why call on an Umbrella Company ?

Portage employment allows business customers to order a high quality service. Umbrella companies are made of portage employees. These employees work in partnership with the companies. Generally speaking, the portage employees directly contact business customers themselves. They also manage customer acquisition as they wish. However, the portage employee is accompanied in the business relationship.

In some cases, it’s the company who searches for experts and experienced professionals on certain specific sectors. These companies can work with a portage employee they know. They may also want other portage employee profiles.

In both cases, the umbrella company is a key intermediate. It allows the successful implementation of the mission.

Recruitment constraints of a new employee

A business customer can be attracted by this operating mode to the extent that it is much simpler to develop a mission statement for a portage employee than to organise the recruitment of a new employee.

Indeed, the recruitment of a new employee includes several constraints :

• Candidacy reception and selection
• Preparation of the arrival of the new employee
• Internal training to get him/her quickly operational

Furthermore, a recruitment can fail. It is thus difficult to terminate an employment contract. Complex missions need qualified and flexible personnel. The portage employees are generally experts. They know their field and a wide range of business situations.

The agility choice for business customers

Companies don’t always have the financial means to recruit a confirmed professional for ad hoc assignments. If it’s possible to use interims or freelancers for various missions, it’s not possible for work that needs higher skills. Furthermore, some missions deal with sensitive subjects for the company and must be carefully assigned.

Therefore, some businesses see umbrella companies as a mission contract. When needed, a business customer can call for a portage employee to answer his request. These are generally time limited operations.

The use of an umbrella company, seems, for many businesses, to be an efficient solution allowing them to have a qualified employee but which is “external” to the business.

The stake on an Umbrella Company

Customer businesses who work with umbrella companies have high insurances and guarantees. An umbrella company is specialised in the portage activity. It has an accreditation to recruit portage employees.

In general, the umbrella company has the mandatory qualification and certification of :

• Professional standards. These standards are essential to ensure an optimal work.
• Qualification on trade regulations. This expertise avoids disputes and legal problems between the consultants and the customers.
• Social obligation knowledge. The customer businesses and the consultants focus only on the mission to accomplish.
• Human resources. The umbrella company has counsellors which can answer to questions and problems.

ABC Portage umbrella company has the professional certification relating to professional training and internal management. These recognitions appear as a plus for the portage employees and a security for the customers.

This security on Humans Resources, accounting, trade regulation or tax standards missions is essential in the activity of an umbrella company. This even corresponds to the core of the mission set by the Collective Agreement of their sector (Article 18).

The umbrella company is thus an expert interlocutor between business customers and consultants.

The versatility of portage employees

Umbrella companies can have several hundreds portage employees in their company. Some have chosen this status for several years and appreciate working in different environments. In the vast majority of cases, the choice of portage employment is voluntary and corresponds to a specific professional project.

Businesses are more and more careful with the professional versatile profiles and experts. Portage employees combine both of these essential qualities to the extent that they are at the same time entrepreneurs and employees.

A portage employee is confronted to a number of different professional situations. This experience is a big advantage in his activity. The first quality staying versatility and spirit of adapting.

Expertise of portage employees

Portage employees are also experts in their field and are able to bring high value-added performances.
In general, it concerns executives wanting more independence in their profession. Portage employees are often people in their fifties close to retirement. They master their field.

A portage employee who hasn’t proved his expertise risks loosing customers. Or, without customers, a portage employee has no salary. This status is adapted only for professionals able to answer to assigned missions efficiently.

The umbrella company stays aware of the content of the services and the customer satisfaction.

Flexibility of portage employment

By its nature, the portage employment status allows professional profiles to carry out an entrepreneurial activity with complete autonomy. Businesses search more and more for professionals able to achieve complex performances.

The succession of missions and the diversity of the situations allows the portage employee to maintain intact curiosity and enthusiasm.
A business customer which calls on an umbrella company will have curious and passionate professional profiles.

Main points to remember

Portage employees in umbrella companies are aware of the numerous benefits their status provides, halfway between employee and entrepreneur. Portage employment is a solution more and more used by companies, as it allows to answer to a variety of needs :

• The provision of a qualified professional (having minimum a two-year post-baccalaureate degree), experienced and often expert in one or several key fields
• Security on the overall supervisory process of the portage employee
• Follow-up on the full commercial service for the umbrella company
• Possibility to freely choose the duration of the mission
• The use of a steady entrepreneur who benefits from a regular salary thanks to his umbrella company.