Archive for January, 2010

Two new sets of Regulations have been published over the past week, namely the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, which will require agency workers to be treated effectively as employees for the purpose of employment benefits, and a series of Additional Paternity Leave Regulations, which will allow fathers and adoptive parents to take up to a [...]

In a decision given on 18 January 2010, the London Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), in the case Lyons v Mitie Security Ltd, ruled that annual holiday entitlement is not an absolute right as workers are required to give statutory or contractual notice to take leave. Among Mr. Lyons complaints to an Employment Tribunal was that [...]

Form P11DX, which has traditionally been used by employers to apply for a dispensation, now has its online equivalent, at the link below. Further information: Dispensations Sponsored by Learn Payroll

HMRC has made available ‘pdf’ versions of the Taxable Pay Tables A to D for 2010/11 available on its website.  They include the new manual calculation method required to handle the additional 50% rate of tax from April 2010. Further information: Tables B to D (2010) Calculator Tables (2010) Sponsored by Learn Payroll

Early in 2009 HMRC announced that it was changing its bankers from the Bank of England to Citi and Royal Bank of Scotland Group and that new sort codes and accounts numbers were being introduced in April 2009. The old accounts details have remained in use since then but HMRC is now warning that the [...]

The right to additional paternity leave and pay will be introduced from April 2011 (although some employees gain entitlement before that date).  Following a third consultation period in late 2009, the Government has now published the final Regulations in draft.  They are expected to come into force from 6 April 2010, providing up to a [...]

In a newsletter article in October 2009, we reviewed the Government’s final consultation document on the implementation of the European Directive on Conditions for Temporary Workers.  The final Agency Workers Regulations 2010 were laid before Parliament on 21 January and come into force on 1 October 2011, leaving over a year for agencies and hirers [...]

Regulations made in 2008 require Government Agencies and larger companies to file returns and make payments to the Revenue online, using Revenue Online Services (ROS). The first phase took effect from January 2009, involving Government Departments, certain named Government Offices and companies whose tax affairs are dealt with by Large Cases Division. From January 2010, [...]

This is a rather technical newsletter so we have provided brief summaries of the two principal articles. The first article explains the new right to apply to undertake study and training courses during employment, which larger employers will have to handle from April 2010. The other subject area is pensions, with one item about the increase [...]

Summary The right to apply to undertake study and training courses during employment becomes law for employees of large employers in April 2010, and employees of all employers in April 2011.  The Regulations define the format of employee applications, the timetable that employers must follow when considering the applications, and the implications of agreeing to [...]

Pension reforms introduced in 2003 introduced a single minimum pension age of 50 for all registered occupational and personal pension schemes.  This minimum age increases to 55 from 6 April 2010.  From that date, pension scheme members will normally only be able to draw their pension when they are 55 or older. Scheme members between [...]

Summary A series of statutory Order and Regulations have been published that describe most of the final structure of the NEST scheme that will be introduced in 2012.  In particular, they provide information about the operation of the new Corporation that will act as Trustee to the scheme, and the four-year implementation timetable so that [...]

Our first newsletter of 2010 considers a number of changes that are effective from the start of the year, such as the new Acas Code of Practice on trade union duties and activities, additional resources for HMRC to identify employers paying below the national minimum wage, some revised booklets and the merger of the RCPO [...]

This is an adjustment to the item that appeared in the last newsletter of 2009.  The explanation confused the way in which HMRC will handle two tax changes from April 2010, namely (1) the new 50% additional rate of tax and (2) the reduction to the personal allowance for individuals with an annual income of [...]

This revised Code of Practice came into effect from 1 January 2010.  It has been revised, after consultation, to reflect the changing nature of the British workplace and the effect this has had on time off arrangements for trade union representatives. The law requires time off with pay for union representatives to perform trade union [...]

From January 2010, HMRC’s new Dynamic Response Team will work on the most high profile and complex National Minimum Wage cases faced by HMRC, particularly in areas where employers are using migrant labour to undercut competitors by paying below the minimum wage.  The team, made up of highly-trained specialist officers, is funded from the Department [...]

The Government has announced that there will be an extra bank holiday in June 2012 to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  The date will be Tuesday, 5 June 2012 and, to form a long weekend of celebration, the late May bank holiday will be moved to Monday 4 June. Further information: New bank holiday for [...]

The following publications have been updated and reissued: Using you own vehicle for work – Information for employees IR115 – Paying for Childcare – Getting Help From Your Employer E18(2009) – Employer Helpbook – How to help your employees with childcare CSL2 – The Collection of Student Loans – Common querie Sponsored by Learn Payroll

A draft statutory Order has been published in order to bring into force, from 6 April 2010, the new penalty regime for employers who fail to make their monthly or quarterly payments to their Accounts Office on time and in full.  The Order was published for comment so the date is subject to final confirmation. [...]

A spam email, supposedly issued by “HMRC Online services – test@test.com”, is being circulated, stating that recipients have 1 new ALERT message, and should log into their Online Account to read the message. The email contains a link to a fraudulent website that requests the disclosure of personal account information and password.  The email is [...]