General FAQs | Buyer FAQs

Why become a Seller?

Sellers on any of the people4 sites – including «people4business», «people4charity», «people4web2» and «people4engineering» – can take advantage of our UK-wide online marketplaces for their skills.

The people4 sites are a simpler way of contracting with Buyers. We take the hassle out of contracting by doing all the invoicing and credit control on your behalf. We also guarantee payment for all assignments gained through people4business.

Best of all, registering with people4 gives you all these benefits and it costs nothing!

Who can be a Seller?

Anyone who is self-employed can become a Seller with people4business, including those working through a limited company, through a consultancy or working through an umbrella organisation.

I trade as a Limited Company, can I be a Seller?

Yes! We need you to supply us with your company name and number and your bank details – which we will ask for when you gain your first contract through people4business. We handle all the invoicing and credit chasing on your behalf.

We also recommend that you check the limited company opt-out box. This means that you opt-out of The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003. This can help you to ensure that you are not caught by the IR35 tax rules, which were designed to ensure that contractors were not unfairly avoiding taxes.

Find out more about Limited Companies.

I work through an umbrella company, can I be a Seller?

Yes! In fact, all of our Sellers who are not either trading as a limited company or working through a (limited company) consultancy will have to work through an umbrella company. We will manage your invoices and payments through your umbrella company, which will then deduct any tax and National Insurance in the usual way before passing on the balance to you.

Find out more about umbrella companies.

I’m a sole trader, can I be a Seller?

Yes! But please note that all of our Sellers need to be paid through a limited company.

If you are a sole trader, you can register with an umbrella company when you get your first contract. It is quick and straightforward to register with an umbrella.

Many umbrella companies are prepared to operate on a per-contract basis, so you could use them for your people4business contracts or for all your contracts, as you wish. The umbrella company will deduct taxes, National Insurance and their fee and pay you the balance.

I’m not yet freelance, can I be a Seller?

You are welcome to register as a Seller. If you are considering going freelance, you may want to look at our new to freelancing page. There are also plenty of opportunities for Sellers to work on a part-time basis, or from home.

Please bear in mind that you will need to be paid through a limited company, so that we can be sure that you are meeting all your tax and national insurance obligations. If you are new to freelancing, it will be easiest for you to register with an umbrella company.

Becoming a Seller

How do I become a Seller?

Registration is simple and completely free.

You simply need to tell us a few details about yourself, including your name and address and your eligibility to work in the UK.

Once you’ve filled out those details and agreed to our terms and conditions, you can begin selecting your skills.

We recommend that you fill out your CV – or send it to us and we will do it for you.

Finally, before your details can appear on the site you need to set your hourly rate and availability.

What does it cost?

It costs you absolutely nothing to register on people4business.

We add a 10% management fee on top of your hourly rate to cover our costs. The rate that Buyers see includes our 10% management fee.

You can choose to become a subscriber – you’ll benefit from enhanced listings, with a more prominent entry and twice as much space for your brief description. You’ll also get top position in Buyers’ searches. Subscription costs £50 (plus VAT) for six months or £75 (plus VAT) for a year.

What information do I need to give people4business?

Before you can take up a contract with people4business, we are required to check your eligibility to work legally in the UK.

Who is eligible to work in the UK?

Holders of British, EEA or Swiss passports are eligible to work in the UK.

Holders of any other passport should contact seller@people4business.com so that we can confirm your eligibility to work in the UK. Once we have confirmed this, we will provide you with a Verification number which allows you to complete the registration process.

For more information on how we verify your right to work in the UK, look at our ID verification page.

When I’m a Seller

Why subscribe?

Subscribers benefit from enhanced listings, with a more prominent entry and twice as much space for your brief description.

You also get top position when Buyers search for Sellers for their assignment.

How will I be paid?

All our Sellers need to be paid through a limited company.

If you are trading as a limited company, we can make payment for your contracts direct into your company bank account.

If you are not trading as a limited company, you will need to register with an umbrella company, which will handle your payments and deduct tax and national insurance on your behalf.

What is an umbrella company?

An umbrella company provides a specialist payroll service for contractors and consultants. Their main purpose is to ensure that you meet all your tax and National Insurance obligations. Some companies may provide additional benefits, such as Professional Indemnity insurance cover, public liability insurance and contributory pensions – find out more

Umbrella companies have become much more popular since the IR35 tax rules were introduced. These rules were designed to prevent tax and National Insurance avoidance by contractors working through ‘intermediary’ companies who were effectively directly employed by their ‘clients’.

Both sole trader Sellers and those working through limited companies can use umbrella companies to manage their taxes.

What about VAT?

Sellers who are VAT registered will have VAT added to the invoices we produce on your behalf – which are from you to people4business.

Sellers who are not VAT registered will not have VAT added to the invoices from them to people4business.

people4business.com is VAT registered and therefore we add VAT on all our invoices to our Buyers, regardless of whether they are VAT registered or not.

What if a Buyer tries to contact me and bypass people4business?

You need to be aware that our terms and conditions state that any Buyer who finds your details through a people4 site has to enter into a contract with you through people4business Limited.

Any Buyer or Seller who circumvents people4business will be barred from the site and risks legal action being taken against them. We follow up on all contacts made between Buyers and Sellers.

See Sellers’ terms and conditions

Assignments

How do I apply for assignments?

You need to be a registered Seller to apply for an assignment.

Details of assignments that have been posted but not yet filled, are put up on our job board. You can then apply by sending a short message to the Buyer. We send on this message, together with a link to your details. The Buyer will contact you if they are interested.

Please check daily for new assignments.

Shortlists

I’ve been shortlisted, how do I contact the Buyer?

When you are shortlisted, the Buyer is given your contact details. It is up to the Buyer who has shortlisted you to get in touch with you.

I’ve been shortlisted, but the Buyer hasn’t contacted me?

The Buyer may have decided not to contact you for some reason. When assignments reach the shortlist stage, we provide assistance to Buyers to help them to progress to awarding a contract.

How long do I stay on the shortlist for?

The time will depend on the individual buyer and how long they take to progress through contacting Sellers to making a decision and awarding a contract. Experience to date shows that this can be anything from 1–21 days and is often dependent on the complexity of the project and the skill-set required.

Contracts & timesheets

I’ve got a contract, now what?

The first thing you will need to do is to confirm the details of the contract. You will find the contract details on your homepage.

These details will include whether or not you are allowed to charge for overtime (by which we mean additional hours, charged at a higher hourly rate) and expenses.

How do I fill in my timesheet?

You will need to fill in your timesheet on a weekly basis – at least.

When you click to ’Save’ your timesheet, this saves the hours you have put in, but does not submit the timesheet to the Buyer.

You need to submit a timesheet to your Buyer on a weekly basis, or when the contract ends.

What about overtime?

Overtime – for the purposes of people4 timesheets – refers to hours that you have worked, above the standard daily hours, which are charged at a higher hourly rate.

Your Buyer needs to have agreed to pay overtime when the contract terms are agreed.

How do I include overtime in my timesheet?

You can only include overtime if your Buyer has agreed to it in the contract terms.

When you fill in your hours for that day, you can include additional hours at a multiple of your standard hourly rate.

You do this by clicking on the overtime box at the top of your timesheet (this will only be activated if overtime has been agreed to) and inputting your additional hours and the multiplier.

Your Buyer will need to agree to these overtime hours, in the usual way.

How do I submit a timesheet?

When you have input your hours for that week, click to agree that your hours are accurate, then you can submit the timesheet to your Buyer. Your Buyer then has two working days to approve or reject your timesheet.

What if the Buyer rejects my timesheet?

If the Buyer rejects your timesheet, you can amend the timesheet details and resubmit it.

When you go to your timesheet for that contract, the hours that have been rejected are highlighted in red.

The Buyer is able to add a comment to explain why the timesheet has not been approved.

My question hasn’t been answered?

Please call or e-mail us with your question and we’ll answer it, and add it to our FAQs list:

0870 389 3244 | e-mail

last updated 10.07.08