Archive for January, 2009

The major item in this week’s newsletter is an update on the outline provisions set out in the Pensions Act 2008 for pension personal accounts. These new types of pension scheme, which will involve both employer contributions and employee contributions through the payroll, are likely to be introduced from 2012. So far we only have [...]

If an employer pays an employee’s liabilities arising out of legal action or provides indemnity insurance against such liabilities, the employer’s costs are a taxable benefit to the employee and must be reported on form P11D. However, where the liability arises out of the employment, for example, because the employee is obliged to pay it [...]

Employment legislation normally takes effect from two dates in any year, namely 6 April and 1 October. The following relevant legislation falls within the remit of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and is expected to be brought into force on these two dates in 2009: 6 April 2009 Employment Act 2008 [...]

The Pensions Act 2008 gained Royal Assent on 26 November 2008. The Act provides the framework for the automatic provision by employers of “pension personal accounts”, likely from 2012. The detail of these statutory obligations will be include in future Regulations. The following review of the provisions of the Act updates information that was published [...]

The Labour has announced Inquiries on 30 January 2009 into applications to abolish the Hairdressing Joint Labour Committee and the Hairdressing (Cork County Borough) Joint Labour Committee and replace them with a single Joint Labour Committee for the hairdressing sector, and abolish the Catering Joint Labour Committee and the Catering Joint Labour Committee (County Borough [...]

20th & 21st May 2009 Central London In the current economic climate, companies are continually asking the important question – how will we get through the financial downturn? It is more necessary than ever for organisations to maintain their competitive edge and continue to engage and retain staff. However as budgets are reduced and workforces [...]

29th & 30th of September 09 Barceló Sants Hotel Barcelona, Spain Develop the Full Potential of your Personnel Following the success of the ETD.08 (European Training & Development Summit), BME Global presents ETD.09. The aim of the Summit is to provide a platform to learn the current trends and strategies, develop your employees, build on [...]

Revolutionising the Strategic Partnership of HR 13th – 14th of May 2009 Location: Brussels – Belgium Venue: Le Chatelain Hotel HR Business Partnering is not a new business concept – in fact HR transformation has been a priority for organisations for more than a decade. However, HR transformation in the past has been more theory [...]

Very little has happened over the holiday period and this week’s newsletter provides some extended guidance on the welfare counselling tax exemption and confirmation that the changeover from the formal statutory dispute resolution procedures to the less formal Code of Practice will take place on 6 April 2009. Our Employer FAQ this week looks at [...]

In a recent update to the Employment Income Manual (EIM), HMRC provides clarification on the tax status of welfare counselling services provided by means of Employee Assistance Programmes. Welfare counselling is exempt from tax as a minor benefit under the provisions of The Income Tax (Benefits in Kind) (Exemption for Welfare Counselling) Regulations 2000 where [...]

The following provisions of the Employment Act 2008 will take effect from 6 April 2009: Section 1 – repeal of statutory dispute resolution procedures Section 2 – repeal of “procedural fairness” provisions Section 3 – failure to comply with statutory codes of practice Section 4 – tribunal proceedings without a hearing Section 5 – conciliation [...]

From January 2009, employers are required to tax the provision of benefits-in-kind through the Employees’ Tax Instalment (ETI) Scheme. The Income Tax Office has updated the Benefits in Kind Guide and it is available to download from the link shown below. Relevant parts of the Guide have been updated to explain the implications of the [...]

The Social Security upper and lower earnings limits for 2009 have been published on Government website, as follows: Further information: New Developments The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll Solutions

On 31 December 2008, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs signed an agreement on social security with the Republic of Korea into legislation. It came into effect on 1 January 2009. The main purpose of the Agreement is to protect the pension rights of migrant workers who move between Ireland and the Republic of [...]