October
2007
Written
Statement of Employment Tool
Its is
a legal requirement that all employers produce a written statement of
employment for all new employees within two months of starting work.
Use the new online
tool to do so quickly and effectively.
Construction
Industry Scheme
Automatic
penalties for submitting monthly returns after the due date. Contractor's
monthly returns are due by the 19th of each month.
As from
19th October 2007 if you fail to submit a monthly return on time to
HM Revenue & Customs they will charge you a minimum penalty of £100
for each month and each return until they receive it even if it is a
NIL return. Read
More
Statutory
Holiday Entitlement Changes
As of 1
October 2007 Statutory Holiday Entitlement is changing. The minimum
entitlement will increase from 20 days a year to 24 days (pro-rata for
part time staff). To ensure you are up to date with the amendments,
click
here or visit our Specialist Advice
Pages.
September
2007
Student
Loans
The
process for starting and stopping Student Loan deductions is due to
change from 6 April 2008. At present you are required to commence
Student Loan deductions on the first pay day falling 42 days or more
after the date of issue show on the Start Notice, from SL1. And stop
deductions on the first pay day falling 42 days or more after the
date of issue of the Stop Notice, form SL2.
As of
6 April 2008 the law is altering and the 42 day lead-time is being
removed. Therefore as an employer you must start deductions on the
first available pay day after the SL1 start date. Similarly you must
stop deductions on the first available pay day after the SL2 stop
date. If unsure please refer to HMRC
or contact us.
Online
Filing Incentive
£100 in return for filing your Employer Annual Return online.
If you have fewer than 50 employees, you will get £100 tax-free
if you send your 2007-08 Employer Annual Return online.
If you
have 50 or more employees, you must file your Employer Annual Return
online or face a penalty. Go to HMRC
for more information.
Child
Support Agency - Important News
New
Regulations were introduced from 1 August 2007 allowing Child Support
Agency (CSA) to issue deduction from earnings orders against non-resident
parents who live abroad. Read
More
As
an employer you still have a part to play in ensuring child maintenance
is paid. For further assistance contact us
or visit csa.gov.uk
August
2007
Rise
in minimum wage
As from 1st october, 2007 there will be an increase in the minimum
wage rates as follows:-
16 to 17 year olds - increase to £3.40 per hour
18 to 21 year olds - increase to £4.60 per hour
22 years and over - increase to £5.52 per hour
We should be grateful if you would let us know
when you intend to implement the above rates as we need your authority
to do so. We would remind you that payment of the minimum wage rate
is a legal requirement and it is imperative that you inform us of
the changes as soon as possible. As we have incomplete personnel details
and no hourly rates for some clients we will require each client to
check their own personnel records to ensure that they are compliant
with government legislation.
May
2007
What's
New For Spring Babies?
New
maternity rules are in force and apply to women whose expected week
of childbirth is on or after April 1, 2007. Is it all bad news for
employers?
Great
expectations! Firstly, these changes only apply to women whose babies
are due on or after APRIL 1, 2007. It's irrelevant when the baby is
actually born; it's the expected week of childbirth (EWC) that matters.
For more click here.
New
Business Advice for Payroll Clients
Have a look at our new Specialist Advice
pages. These include articles, specifically written by payroll experts
to help you and your business to keep abreast of recent laws and give
you hints and ideas as how to ensure your business follows them and
benefits.
April
2007
Statutory
Sick Pay 2007/8
Any employee earning an average of £87.00 per week or more
will automatically qualify for SSP as soon as they commence work for
you. You are obliged by law to pay this to your staff. The current
rate for SSP is as follows:
£72.55 per week - Payable for up to 28 weeks
SSP
is paid on a daily basis and the daily rate for SSP is the weekly
rate (as shown above) divided by how many days the employee works
and rounded to the nearest penny. For example an employee working
3 days per week would have a daily rate of £24.18.
The
first three days that an employee is off sick are classed as "qualifying
days" and are unpaid. From the fourth day the employee is paid
SSP. Your employee needs to be off for four continuous days or more
to get any SSP.
If any
employee reports in sick you will need to make Arch
Payroll aware of what days they normally work and the first day
that they became sick. You will also need to let us have copies of
sick notes provided. For the first 7 days of sickness the employee
should provide a self-certificate and any days after that should be
a doctors sick note.
If the
employee concerned does not have any set days that they work then
they will be categorised as working seven days a week. This will mean
that they will get the SSP earlier but the daily rate will be reduced.
Arch will work out the SSP for you once you have provided us with
the above information. The amount of SSP will show separately on the
employee's wage slip.
In certain
circumstances you may be able to reclaim some of the SSP paid out
from the Government. The calculation to reclaim any SSP is done on
a month-by-month basis and you can reclaim any SSP paid out over and
above 13% of the total NI liability in that same month. Again, Arch
will do this calculation on your behalf and any reclaim due will be
deducted from your Tax and NI to pay over at month end.
Further
more detailed information is available from the Inland
Revenue Website or by calling the helpline on 08457 143143.
