No, they still took the cut directly from your pay. Sorry, but you were scammed.

How else would it work? The recruiters need to take a cut somewhere, whether it's a lump sum up front or a cut per hour is fine with me.

I agree that it's annoying that a company would pay a recruitment agency 90/hour to have me, but would never pay me directly that much.

They take a cut from your employer. The employer pays the recruiter above and beyond what they are paying you.

> How else would it work?

Recruiters get paid by the employer, and not off the candidate's pool. It's employer who bears the burden of paying the recruiter in our current setting. This is why your situation was deemed scam (a.k.a. unusually sub-par for the environment).

Yes my last contract in the UK took a few £ a week to manage the umbrella company