One of the greatest problems we come across at Stafftax are net-wage agreements. Many domestic workers are used to talking net, and so the concept of a gross salary can be very confusing. Add to that the fact that what they are really interested in is how much they have in their pocket when they get paid every week or month.

But discussing salaries in terms of net can be very misleading and often leads to misunderstandings, and ultimately does a disservice to employers and employees alike. Many employers end up considering the tax and NI contributions as additional costs, whereas they are actually part of the employee's gross wage. This could explain why there is such a large number of domestic workers in the UK whose salaries are either inaccurately declared or not declared at all. For more information on the disadvantages of net wage agreements from an employer's and employee's perspective, click on the respective link or select the article from the 'agency' section in the main navigation bar.

Historically most domestic agencies also tended to work on the basis of net-wage agreements; they would base their fee-structure of a percentage of the candidate's salary and advertise all jobs with the weekly net salary. But times are changing and more domestic agencies are now starting to switch to gross wage policies. At Stafftax we realise it is a big undertaking and not just from an administrative point of view; with resistance from many domestic workers it can be an uphill struggle. 

Stafftax can help - we provide you with unlimited support when it comes to making sure all net to gross (or gross to net) conversions are accurate. We send out tax tables to all the agencies we work with at the beginning of each tax year and if you keep these to hand you can explain to your candidate what a gross wage means in take-home or net terms. For figures outside the tax table you can simply call Mia or Åsa at Stafftax on 0845 226 2204 and we'll be happy to do calculations for you. Or, if you prefer, you can email us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If you haven't received the tax tables, or would like extra copies, just let us know. Please note that the tax tables are for guideline purposes only, the figures are rounded to the nearest pound. The figures are based on tax and National Insurance rates for a person on a standard tax code for the current tax year. Where a domestic worker has more than one job or wage in the same week then these figures do not apply.