The scheme to recover SSP is being abolished

SSP Recovery for Small Employers that pay over 13% of their total NI for the Pay Period will stop in March 2014

The scheme to recover SSP is being abolished from 6 April 2014. This new legislation has not been fully publicised as it seems to have slipped in under the radar with RTI and Auto enrolment taking the centre stage – although further investigation shows this was put forward back in January 2013.

Commenting on the changes Bevan & Buckland payroll manager Tina Davies said “This could prove counter-productive and damage the government’s efforts to support small businesses and encourage entrepreneurship?

Small employers need to be aware, as they will have to pay out up to 28 weeks of SSP per long-term sick employee.  This is a major change and hopefully the press will pick up on it eventually.   The New £2,000 Employer NI allowance will not fully compensate every business, because if they only pay part-timers there is no Employer’s NI to save. The bigger employers will gain the most from it as they probably couldn’t recover any SSP anyway.”

For further information about how Bevan and Buckland can help your company with management of the payroll contact Tina Davies on 01792 410100 or by email at help@bevanbuckland.co.uk.

To find out what other services are offered by Bevan and Buckland visit www.bevanbuckland.co.uk.

Tina Davies
MCIPP(dip) Member Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals

Tina Davies is manager of Bevan & Buckland’s Swansea Payroll Department, we also operate a payroll bureau service from the firm’s Pembroke and Haverfordwest offices.  

http://www.bevanbuckland.co.uk/services/payroll Tel: 01792 410117

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Newton Abbot Tel: 01626 361484

Auto Enrolment hits the two million mark

Automatic enrolment hits the two million mark

17 December 2013

More than two million workers have begun saving into a workplace pensions scheme as a result of automatic enrolment, according to figures released by The Pensions Regulator.  “But this is just a drop in the ocean. Millions more will come under the legislation in the next few years” writes Tina Davies, Payroll Manager at Bevan & Buckland.

Automatic enrolment began in October 2012 and is rolling out from the largest to the smallest employers across the UK. All employers, including charities and the public sector, will eventually need to assess their workforce and automatically enrol eligible workers into a pension scheme.

This month’s automatic enrolment registration report shows that more than 3,500 employers have now joined the workplace pension’s revolution and submitted an online declaration of compliance by completing registration with The Pensions Regulator.

The new year will see a leap in the number of firms affected, with tens of thousands of medium employers introducing automatic enrolment. The Pensions Regulator is urging all employers to make sure they know when they must introduce the changes, or ‘stage’.
Charles Counsell, executive director of automatic enrolment at The Pensions Regulator said: “If they have not done it already I would hope the first thing every employer does when they get back to work after the Christmas break is to check their staging date and prepare for automatic enrolment. The clock is ticking and if employers don’t plan ahead they could face unnecessary challenges and costs in the New Year.

“It’s really important to arrange your pension provision in plenty of time. We urge employers to have an agreement with a provider in place six months before staging. Don’t just assume the first provider you contact will be able to help you.”
If you have any concerns or issues regarding your staging date please do not hesitate to contact Tina Davies the payroll manager or anyone of the payroll team who will be able to confirm your staging date.

For further information about how Bevan and Buckland can help your company with management of the payroll contact Tina Davies on 01792 410100 or by email at help@bevanbuckland.co.uk.

To find out what other services are offered by Bevan and Buckland visit www.bevanbuckland.co.uk.

Tina Davies
MCIPP(dip) Member Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals

Tina Davies is manager of Bevan & Buckland’s Swansea Payroll Department, we also operate a payroll bureau service from the firm’s Pembroke and Haverfordwest offices.  

http://www.bevanbuckland.co.uk/services/payroll Tel: 01792 410117

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Newton Abbot Tel: 01626 361484

Calculating holiday pay entitlement

Calculating holiday pay entitlement

Currently all our clients pay employees holiday pay calculated on the contracted hours it looks like this might change as in a recent case a Tribunal was asked whether employers are required to base their calculation of holiday pay on employees’ actual remuneration – including overtime, or only their basic salary.

The Employment Tribunal confirmed that holiday pay entitlement must be based on actual remuneration for contractually required tasks, noting that overtime and shift premia must be included in the calculation.

This case will be of particular interest to employers in the retail sector where overtime, shift premium and other such payments are commonplace.

Pinsent Masons takes a closer look at the case in their HR Briefing.

At a Glance

In the recent case of Neal v Freightliner Limited, an Employment Tribunal (ET) was asked to consider whether employers are required to base their calculation of holiday pay on employees’ actual remuneration (including overtime pay) or their basic salary alone. The ET confirmed that holiday pay entitlement must be based on actual remuneration for contractually required tasks, noting that overtime and shift premia must be included in the calculation.

Background

This judgment follows on from the recent Supreme Court decision in British Airways plc v Williams and Others in which it was held that employees should be paid their “normal remuneration” during their four weeks’ statutory annual leave. The principle is that employees should be put in a financial position comparable with periods of work. In the BA case it was held that the pilots’ holiday pay should be calculated by assessing average payments made over a representative reference period, including flying pay supplements.

In the wake of this decision there had been some uncertainty as to the wider application of this principle, as the BA case was dealt with under the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations. However, the decision in Neal v Freightliner Limited leaves little doubt that the scope of this principle has been extended beyond the airline industry and we are seeing a considerable number of claims for holiday pay to include payments for overtime, shift premia and other allowances.

The Employment Tribunals have also released statistics which show that claims under the Working Time Regulations (WTR) doubled in the first quarter of 2013 and accounted for a third of all claims submitted.

http://www.cipp.org.uk/

Bevan and Buckland, one of the largest accountancy firms in Wales with offices in Swansea, Cardiff, Haverfordwest, Pembroke, Carmarthen and St David’s, could help. It is easy to separate payroll from a company’s other accounting practices, meaning that the work can be outsourced to a specialist agency. Bevan and Buckland, which has a track record spanning more than a century, has a dedicated BACS accredited payroll team, and can offer companies a fully-managed and confidential payroll service. One major benefit is that they will then take on the responsibility of keeping up-to-date with all the legislation.

For further information about how Bevan and Buckland can help your company with management of the payroll contact Tina Davies on 01792 410100 or by email at help@bevanbuckland.co.uk.

To find out what other services are offered by Bevan and Buckland visit www.bevanbuckland.co.uk.

Tina Davies
MCIPP(dip) Member Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals

Tina Davies is manager of Bevan & Buckland’s Swansea Payroll Department, we also operate a payroll bureau service from the firm’s Pembroke and Haverfordwest offices.  

http://www.bevanbuckland.co.uk/services/payroll Tel: 01792 410117

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Swansea Tel: 01792 410100

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Haverfordwest Tel: 01437 760666

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Pembroke Tel: 01646 682383

Bevan & Buckland Accountants Carmarthen Tel: 01267 233115

Bevan & Buckland Accountants St David’s Tel: 01437 720352