Category: Employer

Employees who opted out of their workplace pension due to COVID-19 should be encouraged back into saving sooner than auto-enrolment rules would usually allow, a Government committee has said. Under current auto-enrolment rules, employees aged between 22 and state pension age who earn more than £10,000 a year are automatically enrolled into a workplace pension … Continued

Only employees who have been furloughed for at least three weeks on or before 30 June 2020 are eligible for the final phase of the scheme.  Employers had until 10 June 2020 to place any workers on the job retention scheme if they wanted to take advantage of it until 31 October 2020. Jeremy Coker, … Continued

The Government has delayed extending the controversial off-payroll working rules to the private sector, as the UK fights to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Hot on the heels of announcing a £350 billion support package for struggling businesses, the Treasury pulled the plug on the extension less than three weeks before it was due to kick … Continued

The Government is to press ahead with extending the off-payroll rules to the private sector next month, following the publication of a controversial report. From April 2020, every medium and large private-sector firm in the UK will become responsible for setting the tax status of any contractor they use, as is the case in the … Continued

The hourly national living wage rate for over-25s will increase from £8.21 to £8.72 for 2020/21. The Low Pay Commission published recommendations for the new rates, which kick in from 1 April 2020. The national living wage is the Government’s minimum wage for over-25s. The minimum wage for under-25s will also rise. Workers aged between … Continued

Plans to remove the employment allowance for large employers from April 2020 could impact on smaller firms. This allowance provides employers with a reduction to their national insurance contributions (NICs) bill of up to £3,000. Employers that claim the allowance can carry it forward from one tax year to the next, but that will stop … Continued

Employer duties By law, the total minimum contributions your organisation must pay into its staff workplace pension schemes increase on 6 April 2019. You need to be ready for this increase, and make sure you’re set up to pay the correct amounts into staff pension schemes – so you comply with the law, and your … Continued

From the 6th April 2019 there will be new rules which will change how you issue payslips to workers. Previously, only your staff classed as employees needed to get written itemised payslips. You didn’t need to itemise payslips for any staff classed as workers. The difference between employees and workers An employee is someone who … Continued

Fines issued to employers that fail to comply with their auto-enrolment responsibilities have more than doubled over the last two years, a report from the Pensions Regulator shows. In 2017/18, there were 36,137 fines issued to employers for not complying with the requirements of auto-enrolment – up from 14,707 such penalties in 2016/17. The Pensions … Continued

Businesses are finally beginning to understand the apprenticeship levy, after previously voicing serious concerns over its complexity and lack of flexibility. The apprenticeship levy took effect on 6 April 2017 and means businesses with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million must pay the levy towards apprenticeship funding. It is charged at 0.5% … Continued