Archive for March, 2009

Another very busy week for news. Our principal items this week involve Pension Personal Accounts, the new payroll-based pension savings scheme that is expected to be introduced in 2012. That sounds a long way off but the legislation – the Pensions Act 2008 – is already in place and, in the past week, the first [...]

In last week’s newsletter we reported the changes that had been passed by the Scottish Parliament to the calculation procedures for Earnings Arrestments and Current Maintenance Arrestments. Insufficient notice was given for an implementation date of 6 April 2009. The announcement in the Executive Note that accompanied the new Regulations was of some embarrassment to [...]

The first of three consultation documents on the rules and procedures that will apply to the provision by employers of Pension Personal Accounts from 2012 has been published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). From an expected commencement date of April 2012, employers will be required to enrol automatically eligible jobholders into qualifying [...]

HMRC issued the following announcement on 20 March: “The bulk issue of 2009-10 PAYE Payslip Booklets (P30BC) has started. We have identified that the first batch printed contained two print errors. These errors have now been fixed and booklets are being issued correctly. The two errors were: Payslip Booklet issued to an agent did not [...]

The new Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures comes into effect from 6 April 2009, replacing the former statutory procedures. The legislation makes provision for the handling of situations that straddle the effective date of the change and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has published a two-page flowchart [...]

If an employee is not entitled to SSP or entitlement to SSP runs out, employers are required to complete the relevant sections of form SSP1, which includes an indication of the reason why SSP cannot be paid or can no longer be paid, and issue it to the employee. The employee may be entitled to [...]

On 17 March 2009, in the case Premier Groundworks v Jozsa, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) allowed an appeal against an employment tribunal decision that Mr. Jozsa was a “worker” and entitled to holiday pay. The Working Time Regulations 1998 provides that a person is a “worker” and therefore entitled to employment protection under those [...]

In a technical consultation document aimed at pension industry professionals, pension schemes, trustees, and industry and member representative organisations, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is seeking views on proposals to reform the disclosure of information requirements that apply to occupational and personal pension schemes. Decisions made as a result of this consultation will [...]

From 6 April 2009, the right of carers to request a variation of their employment contract to help them care for a child under age 6 is extended to cover carers of children under age 17. This change is made by means of a single replacement sentence in the relevant regulations. No other changes to [...]

Changes to Tier 1 of the points-based system for highly skilled workers, raising the academic and financial requirements of two categories, take effect for all applications submitted on or after 31 March 2009. No employer sponsorship is involved for Tier 1 applications. Tier 2 however requires employer sponsorship and, also from 31 March 2009, the [...]

The following changes have been made to the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003, most of which have already been announced. Expatriates of other countries who are seconded to work in the UK are required, from 6 April 2009, to complete the new P46(Expat) form so that HMRC can identify them as early [...]

Regulations made in 2007 introduced a formal tax exemption covering the provision of health screenings and medical check-ups on the condition that they are made generally available to all employees. They were introduced by means of an addition to the Income Tax (Exemption of Minor Benefits) Regulations 2002. The tax exemption provided for all of [...]

HMRC has published a new technical manual, the “Employee Share Schemes User Manual”. Other than the introductory chapter, only two chapters are complete so far, covering SAYE share option schemes and Company Share Option Plans. Further information: Employee Share Schemes User Manual The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll Solutions

The text of Lindsay Hoyle MP’s Private Members’ Bill was published on 9 March, in advance of its second reading debate and vote on 13 March. It was approved by 85 votes to 17 and proceeds now to the Committee stage. The Bill is short and, if it became law, would require the Secretary of [...]

HMRC has updated the Statement of Practice booklet, replacing SOP 5/84 with SOP 1/09. The new statement of practice sets out how HMRC will treat transfers made from an offshore account holding only the income or gains relating to a single employment and the apportionment of earnings where an employee is taxed on the remittance [...]

A second Commencement Order has been made to bring the remaining provisions of the Employment Act 2008 into force on 6 April 2009, as follows: section 8 – new calculation arrangements for National Minimum Wage (NMW) arrears section 9 – underpayment notices, with automatic penalties, replace enforcement notices for payments made below the NMW section [...]

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 included in future regulations and consultation on the content of the regulations began in March 2009. The following [...]

7-9 October 2009, Hotel Princesa Sofia Barcelona The Human Resource Summit is a tried and tested format which brings together HR providers and senior HR management from large UK organisations- to find out more, click here. New delegates confirmed Since our last update the following HR professionals have confirmed their attendance: Baker Tilly – National [...]

By Bruce A. McGraw, CEO, Cognitive Technologies With the current economy in crisis, businesses are scrambling to stay afloat. Many are abandoning their strategic, long term objectives for quick fixes and short-sighted survival tactics. Some of today’s most popular business books from The Tipping Point to Freakonomics feature companies that have stumbled upon greatness without [...]

by Curt Finch, CEO of Journyx, Inc. We are currently facing a challenging economic climate which is forcing many companies to cut costs in order to survive. There are different ways of doing this, and unfortunately, a popular one is slashing employees, projects and even entire departments. Consequently, almost everyone in the business world is [...]