HMRC has confirmed that, at present, it is still working on a process to enable claimants to amend their claims through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), should they make any errors. The advice in the interim is not to make any changes to subsequent claims to account for any previous mistakes as this action […] Read more »
Claiming for furlough payments – what you will need
The furlough payment recovery mechanism is to be launched sometime during the week commencing 20th April. Employers must have a UK bank account and have enrolled for PAYE online. This process can take up to 10 days under normal working conditions. Employers should discuss with their staff and make any changes to the employment contract […] Read more »
Employment Law Changes from April 2020
There are quite a few employment law changes from April 2020 that will affect your payroll. New pay rates from 6th April 2020: The National Living wage for over 25 year olds increases to £8.72 per hour from £8.21. The National Minimum Wage for 21 to 24 year olds increases to £8.20 per hour from […] Read more »
Voluntary overtime and holiday pay calculations
Employment law states that holiday pay should be equivalent to a normal week’s pay so as not to place employees at a financial detriment when taking a period of annual leave. For employees working fixed hours each week, this is a straightforward calculation. However, calculations are more complicated when employees work varying hours. In these […] Read more »
Calculating Holiday Pay
Summer season is here and especially during school holidays, many workers are looking to take time off work, so employers need to check their workers are getting the holiday they are owed. The definition of a worker according to the government is a person that has a contract or other arrangement to do work or […] Read more »
New Payroll Rates from April 2018
The 2018-19 tax year means you need to know all the new payroll rates from April 2018. * The personal allowance increases from £11,500 to £11,850 per year, making the standard tax code 1185L * The 20 per cent basic rate tax band increases from £33,500 to £34,500 per year * The lower earnings limit […] Read more »
New Employers and automatic enrolment
Taking on staff is an essential part of growing a business and there are several things to consider, including automatic enrolment. Aside from checking whether you need to register as an employer with HMRC; checking if your employee has the legal right to work in the UK and taking out employer’s liability insurance, you will […] Read more »
Budget Changes that will affect your Payroll from April 2017
The March 2017 Budget has confirmed the following changes that will affect your payroll from April 2017: * The personal allowance increases from April 2017 from £11,000 to £11,500 making the standard tax code 1150L. * The 20% basic tax rate band increases from April 2017 £32,000 to £33,500 per annum. * The lower earnings […] Read more »
The Apprenticeship Levy
The Apprenticeship Levy will be introduced in April 2017 to all employers operating in the UK, with a pay bill over £3 million each year, to invest in apprenticeships. Your annual pay bill is all payments to employees that are subject to employer Class 1 secondary National Insurance contributions such as wages, bonuses and commissions. Apprenticeship […] Read more »
New auto-enrolment guidance and re-enrolment guidance
Hundreds of thousands of small employers will need to meet their pension duties in 2017 and so The Pensions Regulator has refreshed and updated their website with new auto-enrolment guidance and re-enrolment guidance to make it simpler for employers to understand their duties. They have made choosing a pension scheme for staff easier with the […] Read more »
National Minimum Wage
The largest ever legal claim against the care sector has been launched in what could turn out to be one of the worst breaches of pay rules ever seen. Seventeen care workers claim to have been paid less than half the minimum wage, the company says that is not correct and that it pays its […] Read more »
Tracing your Pension: Is it Lost?
Tracing your pension is not always easy, especially if you’ve been in more than one scheme or have changed employer throughout your career. But it’s important that you do claim your pension, so the sooner you trace a lost pension, the better. Many people are concerned about lost pensions. Fortunately, there are several ways you […] Read more »
No Employers NICs for apprentices under 25
From 6th April 2016, the government have zero-rated the employer National Insurance for apprentices aged under 25. This is to encourage employers to employ more apprentices. The employer must ensure the apprentice is in a statutory apprenticeship scheme. Via the Gov.uk website, there are a number of links the employer can use to check. Assuming […] Read more »
Have you thought about the National Living Wage?
There will be a new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, with the intention that it will reach £9 per hour by 2020. The new National Living Wage will apply for pay reference periods starting on or after 1st April 2016. The pay reference […] Read more »
2015 National Minimum Wage Rates
From 1st October 2015 National Minimum Wage rates have increased, so please ensure you are paying your employees correctly. Research suggests nearly a third of small business owners do not know what the National Minimum Wage rate is or forget that it increases every October. Adults aged 21 and over increases from £6.50 to £6.70 […] Read more »
Auto Enrolment: What if no staff are eligible?
Many small employers may have employees that are not eligible for automatic enrolment and therefore assume that they do not need to set up a pension. Whilst there is no need to set up a pension if you have staff that are not eligible because they are too young or do not earn enough, those […] Read more »
Auto enrolment: It’s the Law!
I recently read a scary statistic from an auto-enrolment survey which said 1 in 10 SMEs plan to ignore auto-enrolment completely whilst 11% of small business owners are still unaware of what auto-enrolment even is. Please do not let this be you. If you have somehow managed to miss all the national TV and radio […] Read more »
Under 21’s National Insurance
From 6th April 2015, a new NI band called the Upper Secondary Threshold (UST) has been created to facilitate the abolition of employer National Insurance contributions for employees under the age of 21. The Upper Secondary Threshold is £815 per week. Earnings above this threshold will remain subject to secondary Class 1 National Insurance Contributions. […] Read more »
No more P35 Questions
HMRC has said that from 6th March 2015, the end of tax year P35 checklist will no longer be required. Employers will still however be required to report the Final Submission for the Year indicator with either their RTI Full Payment Submission (FPS) or EPS. The end of year checklist consists of seven declaration questions […] Read more »
Shared Parental Leave
On 1st December 2014, new regulations giving Shared Parental Leave and Pay came into force in Great Britain. This applies to eligible couples whose baby is due to be born or the child is placed with the adopting couple on or after 5th April 2015. This will replace Additional Statutory Paternity Pay and leave. If […] Read more »