When somebody sits in the middle
Agencies, umbrella arrangements, your own company, platforms — who you are actually engaged by, and what that changes.
Who am I actually engaged by here?
What you signedWho is responsible if something goes wrong?
The law where you areWhat is the intermediary taking, and for what?
What you signedDoes the structure change what I am?
The law where you areFour questions a person in this position actually asks. Every one of them has somewhere to look, which is not the same as having an answer. The structure was chosen by somebody else, for reasons that were not about you.
Who Actually Engages You
The organisation whose work you do is frequently not the one that engaged you, and the difference decides who owes you what.
Agencies
An agency is your counterparty rather than an introducer, and what you are owed comes from them whatever the end client has or has not done.
Umbrella Arrangements
An umbrella sits between you and an agency, and understanding one means seeing every deduction between the client's charge and your account.
Invoicing Through Your Own Company
Trading through a company changes how money reaches you and what you must file; it generally does not settle what the working relationship is.
Platforms
Platform work is the part of this subject moving fastest, with legislatures deciding directly what courts used to work out case by case.
What the Intermediary Takes
The gap between what a client is charged and what reaches you is the single most useful figure in a chain, and it is rarely volunteered.
When the Chain Breaks
A party in the middle failing is the main risk a chain adds, and who owes you then depends on the structure and the place rather than on fairness.