Group Death in Service In order to attract and retain key employees many employers are now looking at a flexible benefit package rather than purely higher salaries. Tax benefits that might be of interest are outlined below. The death of an employee whilst in the service of the company can present the company with a … Continued
New national minimum wage rates from 1 October
New hourly national minimum wage (NMW) rates come into effect on 1 October 2016. Employers are already legally required to pay eligible workers who are 25 or over the national living wage (NLW) of £7.20 an hour. Hourly NMW and NLW rates Age From October 2016 Until October 2016 25 and over £7.20 £7.20 21-24 … Continued
Apprenticeship funding proposals announced
Employers with 50 employees or fewer will have up to 100% of their apprenticeship training costs funded by the government. The government has announced more details about its apprenticeship programme and the funding that will be available to businesses that take on apprentices. The proposals relate to the reform of apprentice funding in May 2017. … Continued
Self-employment growth driven by part-timers
The number of self-employed workers increased from 3.8 million in 2008 to 4.6 million in 2015. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the number of part-time, self-employed workers grew 88% between 2001 and 2015, compared to 25% for full-time, self-employed workers. Part-time workers accounted for 1.2 percentage points of the overall … Continued
Directors, limited liability partners and auto enrolment
Changes were brought in on 6 April 2016 to employer duties for directors and partners in limited liability partnerships. Here we explain what has changed. Before 6 April 2016… Directors of limited liability companies where there were no other directors or employees were exempt from the employer duties – they didn’t have to be auto … Continued
Steady income as highly valued as salary
The majority of employees value a steady income as much as the amount of money they receive. A survey by Citizens Advice asked 2,067 people what they valued most from their employment: level of pay (93%) reliability of income (92%) opportunities for experience (84%) being passionate about what they do (82%) progression opportunities (74%). 83% … Continued
Small businesses action plan for auto-enrolment
With the penalties for non-compliance potentially having a large financial impact on employers, it is important to understand the pitfalls. Among the most common mistakes that a small business might make with regards to auto-enrolment are: not aligning our staging date with payroll payment dates (you can do this by postponing your start date) starting … Continued
Employer national insurance contributions for apprentices abolished
Employers with apprentices under the age of 25 will no longer need to pay national insurance contributions (NICs) for them. Businesses employing apprentices that earn up to £16,000 could save £1,000 under the measures. The measure was first announced at Autumn Statement 2014 and came into effect on 6 April 2016. Skills minister Nick Boles, … Continued
Pension scheme is most popular benefit
A pension scheme is the most popular employee benefit, according to a study. Around 54% of workers chose this as one of their three most favoured perks in research for the annual Willis PMI Group Employee Benefits Index. The second most popular is health insurance, preferred by two workers in five, which had risen by … Continued
National living wage: employer responsibilities
Employers must now pay workers over the age of 25 at least £7.20 an hour. The national living wage (NLW) replaces the current national minimum wage (NMW) of £6.70 an hour for people who are 25 or over. This is not a simple increase of the adult rate of NMW as individuals between 21 and … Continued