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 »
Pension Re-enrolment Duties
Are your pension re-enrolment duties coming up soon? More than 1,200,00 employers have now successfully met their automatic enrolment duties and put nearly 10,000,000 staff into a workplace pension. However, automatic enrolment has ongoing tasks that must be completed to ensure employers continue to comply with the law, and staff continue to receive the pensions […] 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 »
Increases in minimum contributions for automatic enrolment pensions
Under automatic enrolment, minimum pension contributions are required to increase over time. With effect from 6th April 2018 the total contribution increases from the current minimum of a total contribution of 2% of qualifying earnings, to a total of 5%, and again on 6th April 2019, increasing to a total minimum of 8%. The employer […] 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 »
Workplace Pension Guidance
Many small employers have still to arrange their workplace pension schemes and register their scheme with The Pension Regulator, so here is some further guidance. The Pensions Regulator send letters to all employers 12 months, 6 months and one month before their staging date, informing you of your duties. The Pensions Regulator website has an […] Read more »
Declaration of Compliance
Auto enrolment has meant more employers have now reached their staging date and thousands more will be staging in the next year. You may have chosen your pension provider, enrolled your employees and started to make the payments. This will now be an ongoing administrative process. However, your auto enrolment duties do not end there. […] 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 »
Automatic Enrolment: Are you ready?
We have talked about this before, but it certainly bears repeating. Up to half a million small and micro employers will reach their staging date in the next 12 months and many will not be ready in time and could risk fines. The Pensions Regulator has written to every employer alerting them to when their […] 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 »