News

Our professional body The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) has issued a warning to businesses concerning advice being offered by unscrupulous umbrella companies. The new IR35 rules have already been introduced into the public sector and then and now there has been an upsurge in umbrella companies offering advice. Some are offering advice around maintaining the earnings levels of contractors whilst keeping employer liability charges low.

CIPP has received reports that these umbrella businesses are suggesting that contractors could be paid partially via payroll to satisfy the new laws, and partially via a loan scheme or travel and subsistence schemes.

The CIPP advice is that if this sounds too good to be true it probably is and urges businesses to take legal advice.

If you have any concerns over the new IR35 and Off-Payroll Rules, please talk to our payroll experts. We are appropriately trained to ensure that our clients are aware of the new rules and their payroll processing will be compliant with them. Please contact our expert team of payroll professionals at our Birmingham office serving Lichfield, the Midlands and clients across the UK.

Our outsourced payroll service provides you with a complete solution, including things like DBS Checks.

We’ve made applying for a DBS check with All Payrolls even easier.  We’ve created a short video on our DBS Checks page, that takes you through the payment and application process step by step. The animated screen shots show you exactly where you need to click, and the narration explains what you need to do.

No employer wants to get a compliant from a client or a co-worker about one of their employees. A DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service check) is one aspect of the recruitment process that can give you some peace-of-mind.  A DBS check checks the criminal convictions and cautions record of someone being recruiting into a role. If you are recruiting someone to work with children or vulnerable adults, you must get a DBS check done.

We recommend DBS checks are carried out every time you employ a new person, but don’t forget existing employees.  Their record could have changed, and you may not be aware of this.  For existing employees, we recommend re-doing their DBS check every year, but every three years as a minimum. Go to DBS Checks or contact our payroll experts, we operate across the UK with offices in Tamworth and Birmingham.

We are very helpful people here at All Payrolls! We have enhanced our service even more to help our Direct Payments clients when they first start using Timesheets on our website. We have created a short video to demonstrate how to use the Timesheets function. This is one of a series of videos to help our clients maximise the benefits they get from using our outsourced payroll service. Follow this link to see all our Help Videos.

To access Timesheets clients will need to register. Once registered they will be able to use downloadable forms, including Timesheet templates and other useful things like a Right To Work Checklist.

Direct Payments clients will also save time by using our easy to use online Timesheet system to record the hours worked by carers, PAs and other employees. Because we are experts at managing the payroll for Direct Payments clients’ we have set up all the columns required to accurately record sleep in hours, bank holiday hours, annual leave, sick leave and so on.  Clients will be able to set the correct week or month periods from dropdown menus.  Rates of pay for individual employees are input during the initial set up, so once the hours are inserted everything is calculated automatically.  Our client simply authorises the Timesheet and we immediately send an acknowledgement, so they know the information has been received by us, ready for payroll processing.

We are experts of all aspects of outsourced payroll management. Please contact our highly experienced team at our Birmingham office, serving our clients in Tamworth, Lichfield and across the UK.

On numerous occasions we have reported that The Pensions Regulator has prosecuted businesses for non-compliance with Auto Enrolment.  They are serious and will take action.  In this case the TPR was alerted by a whistle-blower, which led to an investigation and conviction.

The nursery had failed to enrol 13 staff into a pension scheme and made a false declaration to the regulator claiming that they had.  A pension scheme had been set up, but no staff had been placed into it.

This scenario could be avoided if more businesses outsourced their payroll and Auto Enrolment administration.  At All Payrolls our payroll management solution can include the administration of your Auto Enrolment Pension Scheme.  We can manage your employees opting-out and in.  We enrol your employees into the pension scheme.  We make periodic pension contribution payments calculations and prepare pension contribution reports and upload them onto the regulator’s interface.  We also deal with pension related queries from your employees and the regulator. We would also notice if 13 of your employees had not been enrolled into the pension scheme!

Please talk to our payroll experts about our Pension Administration Service.  We’re based in Birmingham but have clients all over the UK using our outsourced payroll solution.

Sometimes the best way to get a straight answer is to ask people who are just like yourself! On the All Payrolls website, we have a Forum and a brand new video to show you how to use it.

We are encouraging all of our clients and staff to use this great facility, so if you don’t already have a login for our website, click here and register it is very easy and we just need a bare minimum of information to get you set up.

Once you are registered you can go to the Forum and ask questions about anything, not just payroll related matters.  Of course, if you do have a payroll related matter one of our team will answer it straight-away.  But with any question you have, the benefit of putting your question on the Forum is that all of our other clients will be able to see it and the answer.  So, you could be helping others by using our Forum.

Our clients include people with disabilities, public sector bodies, schools and businesses. So whether you want to ask about recruiting a carer or the best place to buy products or services, or comment about something you’ve heard in the “news”, we are sure you will find a wealth of knowledge, information and experience amongst your peers.

Enjoy using our Forum or for more information please contact our payroll experts at our Birmingham office.

With the memory of last month’s office Christmas Party fading, you might be thinking about what you might do at the end of this year.  Well, if you have found organising the Xmas bash a thankless task, this might be why.  Maybe you are not giving your employees what they truly value.

Reward Gateway conducted a survey of 1400 employees and senior decision-makers in the UK, USA and Australia.  The survey found that most staff would prefer to get rewards that were offered throughout the year, rather than a Christmas party or Christmas bonus.

58% of recent graduates opted for more frequent rewards rather than a Christmas bonus and overall, over half of staff said they would forego the Christmas party if they could have access to ongoing rewards, recognition and savings. Maybe what you’ve done traditionally needs a re-think.

But whatever you decide to do, you have to process any rewards and bonuses appropriately through your payroll taking into account the tax and NI treatment of various benefits and expenses.  We can take that hassle away from you, if you outsource your payroll to us.  And, we can give you advice on what rewards programme to put in place from a tax and NI point of view. Contact our payroll experts at our Birmingham head office.

 

The statistic that 4 in 10 small businesses have put up their prices is from a survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).  They cite that small firms have done this to compensate for the rise in the National Living Wage (NLW).  The FSB also say that the survey of more than 1,162 business owners shows that small firms are cutting profits, delaying investment and reducing the hours worked by staff.

The research shows that following the increase in NLW that came into force in April, the first reaction of small business owners was to pay themselves less rather than cutting staff. 7 in 10 of them, that’s 71%, decided to try and absorb the extra costs or lower profits.  This is bad news for the UK economy with the knock-on effects being less investment, fewer training opportunities and higher prices.

The Low Pay Commission advises Government on what the level of the NLW should be.  The FSB has urged them to remain independent, not to be influenced by political targets and suggested that any future large-scale pay goals should be implemented over a ten-year period.

The Government’s over-riding goal is to reduce poverty in the UK. The NLW is only one part of their strategy with Universal Credit, affordable housing and other aspects of policy also playing their part.

All of this has an impact on the payroll function of businesses of every size and public sector organisations.  NLW, Universal Credit, flexible or reduced working hours all add to the payroll processing workload. We can show you how you will save time and cut costs by outsourcing your payroll management to All Payrolls. Contact us for more information.

Our outsourced payroll service provides you with a complete solution, including things like DBS Checks.

We’ve made applying for a DBS check with All Payrolls even easier.  We’ve created a short video on our DBS Checks page, that takes you through the payment and application process step by step. The animated screen shots show you exactly where you need to click, and the narration explains what you need to do.

No employer wants to get a compliant from a client or a co-worker about one of their employees. A DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service check) is one aspect of the recruitment process that can give you some peace-of-mind.  A DBS check checks the criminal convictions and cautions record of someone being recruiting into a role. If you are recruiting someone to work with children or vulnerable adults, you must get a DBS check done.

We recommend DBS checks are carried out every time you employ a new person, but don’t forget existing employees.  Their record could have changed, and you may not be aware of this.  For existing employees, we recommend re-doing their DBS check every year, but every three years as a minimum. Go to DBS Checks or contact our payroll experts at our Birmingham office.

The Pensions Regulator is prosecuting a recruitment agency, SKL Professional Recruitment Agency Ltd, based in Bushey, Hertfordshire.  SKL who operate in the care sector are accused of wilfully failing to comply with their auto enrolment duties and knowingly or recklessly providing false and misleading information to the TPR. This includes falsely claiming to have enrolled 22 staff into a workplace pension scheme.

Both the agency’s MD and the agency itself are being prosecuted.  This kind of crime can be tried either in a Magistrates court or a Crown Court.  In this case SKL and the MD have been summoned to appear before magistrates.  This carries a maximum sentence of an unlimited fine for each defendant.  In a Crown Court the maximum sentence is two years’ imprisonment.

Proving a workplace pension for your staff is one of the many legal requirements that every employer must deal with. The benefit of outsourcing your payroll management to All Payrolls, is that we provide a level of independent double-checking.  Often, when something illegal happens within a business, and is initiated by a director or an employee, it can be covered up for a time. This is more difficult when you have an expert third-party managing your payroll and all the reporting that goes along with this.  Contact our payroll experts at our Birmingham head office.

In the UK every employer with over 250 employees is required to report their gender pay gap data to The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), every April.  This year most organisations have done this. The few that haven’t have been contacted by the EHRC and formal investigations have been opened.

The EHRC is not a body to be trifled with.  They mean business and they have now shifted their attention to going after the organisations who have submitted suspicious-looking data.  For example, reports of a 50/50 split of male and female employees and claims of no pay gap from the lowest-paid to the highest-paid roles.

Interestingly, EHRC has requested the payroll data from these organisations, as well as an explanation of the rationale for their figures.

So, as an employer you not only have to get your gender pay gap data in on time, you also have to ensure it is accurate, because it is very clear that the data is scrutinised by EHRC.

At All Payrolls we ensure that our staff is trained and up to date with all the legal requirements relating to payroll.  Our team has received training on gender pay gap reporting and the HR implications of this.  For complete peace of mind, outsource your payroll management to All Payrolls and we will also demonstrate how we will save you management time and money. Contact our payroll experts at our Birmingham head office.