From 2 January 2026 there are some important changes to our off-payroll appointment processes. 

Off‑payroll individuals are those who carry out work for the council but are not directly employed by us, and typically not paid through the RBBC payroll, such as interims, temps, agency workers, consultants, locums, or freelancers. 

The current process and Establishment and Vacancy Management Form have been updated on the Knowledge to capture requests and approval for off-payroll workers. Key changes are: 

• approval must be in place before any new appointments/agreements are made for ‘off-payroll’ workers. 
• off-payroll individuals working in the Town Hall, or who require access to council IT systems, will be recorded on our HR system (iTrent) to improve reporting.  Access to our IT systems will be created/deactivated automatically based on HR data.
• the existing IT starter form should be used to notify HR of a new starter as soon as an off-payroll worker has been appointed.  

When seeking approval for recruitment to a vacancy or requesting changes to your agreed establishment, please liaise with HR and your Management Accountant to progress authorisation of the Establishment and Vacancy Management Form.