| Welcome to the Moore Thompson Payroll and HR Bulletin
Welcome to Payroll, the quarterly publication from Moore Thompson Chartered Accountants keeping you up to date with news and developments in the world of payroll & HR.
In this edition: Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, along with thousands of other businesses, have been caught, and fined heavily, for not paying the National Minimum Wage. We look at why this happened, and how an employer can avoid the regulatory pitfalls of payroll.
Plus: News on the upcoming statutory pay requirements, updates on the 2016/17 auto-enrolment threshold, and a reminder of the upcoming apprenticeship levy.
Enjoy!
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“Financial message” for firms who fail to pay the National Minimum Wage
The Guardian recently reported that almost 700 firms, including Boris Becker’s favourite Wimbledon restaurant and Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, have been fined £1.4m for paying staff below the National Minimum Wage.
On top of the fines, which stretched from £2,000 for minor discrepancies to £20,000 for the most serious culprits, a Tribunal ruled that thousands of staff were owed £3.5 million to compensate for the shortfall in their salaries.
 Read more...
Statutory pay: updates for employers
Understanding your employee’s rights is a major part of being an employer. And when an employee becomes sick, is expecting a baby, or is planning to adopt, you must pay them a suitable wage. The rate at what you must pay them, and for how long you pay them, is overseen by the Government. This is known as statutory pay.
Most employers will already be familiar with this concept. But from April 2017, the rate at which statutory pay is paid to out-of-work employees is increasing. To avoid any undue surprises, we’ve listed the new rates below.
Read more...
DWP to freeze auto-enrolment threshold
Each year the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will review the earnings threshold for automatic enrolment, the Government’s all-new compulsory workplace pensions scheme.
However, its current projections for the tax year 2017/18 will freeze the earnings trigger for automatic enrolment at £10,000.
Read more...
Are you ready for the new apprenticeship levy?
The new apprenticeship levy on firms with a payroll bill of £3m or more will come into effect on 6 April 2017 and will be collected through the PAYE system along with tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs).
Technically the levy, which is set at 0.5 per cent of the employer’s pay bill, will be applicable to all employers. However, it only applies in practice to those whose annual wage bill is greater than £3m because an annual allowance of £15,000 is available to all employers (0.5 per cent of £3m).
Read more...
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