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The Compact Payroll Reference Book 2008 - 2009
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News Items – at 5th May 2008
Almost all business have a high dependence on computerised systems, and the payroll department in most businesses is no exception. How secure is your payroll system and how certain are you that it will run, without a hitch, every day, week and month throughout the year? If you business does not have an information security policy and has not put appropriate contingency plans in place, you have reason to be worried. See how your business compares with others in the Information Security Breaches Survey 2008.
Last week’s Employer FAQ looked at employer’s obligation to provide time off for Reservists’ training. This week we have include a new FAQ that explains the obligations of employers when Reservists are mobilised.
One of the changes included in the Employment Bill that is currently before Parliament is the repeal of the statutory dispute resolution procedures, prompted by the Gibbons Review which found that the statutory procedures led to disputes becoming formalised and encouraged the involvement of lawyers at an earlier stage of the grievance. In their place, the Bill provides for the development by Acas of a new code of practice.
This short, five-page document has been published in draft and Acas is consulting on its contents. It contains principles for handling disciplinary and grievance situations in the workplace, rather than actual procedures. It is divided into four main sections:
- a foreword, which does not form part of the statutory code
- an introduction setting out some key principles to be followed when handling disciplinary and grievance situations
- a section on discipline
- a section on grievances.
The Government plans to introduce the changes in workplace dispute resolution in April 2009 and Acas anticipate the revised code will come into effect on the same date.
Further information:
Acas launches consultation on revised discipline and grievance code http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2060
Acas revised discipline and grievance code http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=880&p=0
The Information Security Breaches Survey is published bi-annually by the DBERR and PricewaterhouseCoopers plc. The results of the 2008 survey have been published and show, among other things, that most businesses are now investing in security defences and that information security breaches are causing less disruption to companies’ operations than two years ago. In the past six years, the number of businesses that have published security policies to their staff and provide on-going security awareness training has doubled. However, only 11% of businesses have implemented the sensible British Standard on Information Security Management and 79% are not aware of its contents.
The Executive Summary points out several areas of concern that businesses still need to address, namely:
- 10% of websites that accept payment details do not encrypt them
- 21% spend less than 1% of their IT budget on information security
- 35% have no controls over staff use of Instant Messaging
- 48% of disaster recovery plans have not been tested in the last year
- 52% do not carry out any formal security risk assessment
- 67% do nothing to prevent confidential data leaving on USB sticks, etc.
- 78% of companies that had computers stolen did not encrypt hard discs
- 84% of companies do not scan outgoing email for confidential data.
Five recommendations for all businesses are provided:
- Understand the security threats you face, by drawing on the right knowledge sources.
- Use risk assessment to target your security investment at the most beneficial areas.
- Integrate security into normal business behaviour, through clear policy and staff education.
- Deploy integrated technical controls and keep them up to date.
- Respond quickly and effectively to breaches, e.g. by planning ahead for contingencies.
Further information:
2008 information security breaches survey: executive summary http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45713.pdf
2008 information security breaches survey: technical report http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45714.pdf
Employees needing to claim tax relief for the provision of business-related expenses received during the 2007/08 tax year may do so by completing form P87 Tax relief for expenses of employment year ended 5 April 2008.
The form has sections for claiming mileage allowance relief for the use of a personal car or van for business mileage, hotel and meal expenses, other business expense, and general expense allowances.
Further information:
P87 Tax relief for expenses of employment year ended 5 April 2007 http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p87.pdf
Payroll deadlines during the next month
May 19 – For employers required to pay tax and NICs etc to the Accounts Office monthly, this is the deadline for payment to be received by the Accounts Office, unless made electronically.
May 19 – This is the deadline date for filing, in paper form or electronically,
- form P14 End of Year Summary
- form P35 Employer Annual Return
- form 38A Supplementary Return
May 22 – For employers required to pay tax and NICs to the Accounts Office monthly, this is the deadline for electronic payments to be cleared into the HMRC bank account. Payments through BACS must be initiated by May 20 at the latest.
May 26 – The date after which non-receipt by the HMRC of year-end returns P14s, P35 and P38A will automatically result in late-filing penalties.
May 31 – This is the deadline for issuing P60s to qualifying employees.
June 5 – This is the final day of tax month 2. Tax and NICs etc for payments made in the tax month to June 5 are due for payment to the Accounts Office by June 19, or by June 22 if paid electronically.
Payroll FAQ's
Financial Assistance for Employers of Reservists
When the Government decides, under the provision of the Reserve Forces Act 1996, to mobilise members of the Reserve Forces for full-time military service, Reservists may be called up with little or no notice. However, both the Reservist and the Reservist’s employer are given 28 days’ notice of mobilisation if it is possible to do so. The period of mobilisation may be between three months and a year.
Employers should be aware of those employees who are Reservists and there should already have been discussions between the employer, the Reservists and the Reservist’s Unit to agree on the Reservist’s availability for mobilisation. Some employees with particular skills are designated “High Readiness Reservists” but this is with prior written agreement of the employer. However, where necessary, mobilisation can occur without any consideration of the employee’s personal or employment circumstances.
If an employer believes that the absence of the Reservist will cause financial harm to the business, a request can be made for exemption, deferral or even revocation of mobilisation.
Pay and benefits for Reservists
Employers are not required to pay a Reservist’s wages or salary during mobilisation, or to continue to provide benefits, and no compensation is available from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to do so.
Reservists whose civilian pay is higher than their service pay receive an additional payment to make up the difference between the two. This is subject to an overall cap of £548 per day (equivalent to around £200,000 a year). For those serving as Medical Consultants, the cap is £822 per day (equivalent to around £300,000 a year).
Reservists are also able to claim the cost of replacing certain benefits in kind, such as health insurance or educational fees for a dependent child, where these are suspended by their employer on mobilisation. Any payments to the Reservist for these purposes count towards the overall cap.
Where a company car is withdrawn by an employer and that car was available for use by the Reservist’s spouse, partner or dependants, and no other car is available, the Reservist can claim a flat rate allowance of £10.70 per day. This sum also counts towards the cap.
Reservists can also claim for certain additional expenses that they incur when they are mobilised. These include, for example, costs associated with childcare and the care of dependent relatives. These costs are not included in the payment cap.
If the Reservist continues to make contributions to the employer’s pension scheme, the MOD will also pay the contributions into the scheme that the employer would otherwise have paid.
Claims for employers’ costs
Employers of reservists may claim
- one-off costs, such as advertising for a temporary replacement for the mobilised employee or a one-off agency fee, without any financial limit
- ongoing costs, such as extra overtime costs, ongoing agency fees or paying additional salary to a temporary replacement, up to £110 per day during the period of mobilisation
- training costs, if an when the employee returns to work, for training that the employee would not have needed if the mobilization had not occurred, without any financial limit.
Demobilisation
Following demobilisation, the employer is obliged to reinstate the Reservist to the original job, as long as the Reservist gives notice to return, normally by the third Monday following demobilisation. If the original job is not available, an equivalent job with the same terms and conditions of service must be provided.
Further information on all aspects of Reservist’s responsibilities and entitlements is provided on the SaBRE website, at www.sabre.mod.uk/output/page1.asp.
A financial assistance factsheet for employers is available at www.sabre.mod.uk/files/pdf/Financial_assistance_factsheet.pdf.
The Income Tax Division of Treasury has released a further enhancement to its Online Tax Services which will allow employers to submit employee details.
Employers can now via the internet:
- view a list of current and previous employees and tax codes for existing employees
- submit details of employees commencing or leaving their employment rather than having to use the current paper T20/T21 forms
- submit changes to an existing employee's details.
The Employer Online Tax Service also allows employers to submit their remittance card and make payments of ITIP and NI online. Payments can be made by BACS credit transfer, credit card or debit card.
Employers can also use the online service to check their payment position for current and previous years and to view their T37 annual return form history.
Further information:
Further Enhancement to Online Tax services Announced
http://www.gov.im/treasury/incometax/ViewNews.gov?page=lib
/news/treasury/incometax/enhancementtoonl.xml&menuid=11570
The Labour Court has given notice that it will sit on 22 May 2008 to consider an application to increase the wages and subsistence rates for workers employed by companies in the Electrical Contracting Industry.
If the Court makes an Order varying the Agreement, the new wages and employment conditions will apply to all workers to whom the Agreement applies, whether or not the employer is a party to the Agreement.
Further information:
Iris Oifigiúil, Issue 36 http://www.irisoifigiuil.ie/pdfs/Ir020508.pdf
Electrical Contracting Industry
http://www.labourcourt.ie/Labour/Information.nsf/AllByUNID/E4
53CC9969E4B65A802569E3003BEF40?OpenDocument
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