INDUSTRY NEWS
Dataplan receives real living wage accreditation PAYROLL PROVIDER Dataplan has been accredited as a living wage employer. It has committed to paying its staff the real living wage, which addresses the cost of living, as opposed to paying at national living wage (NLW) or national minimum wage (NMW) levels. The real living wage considers the amount of money that employees and their families actually need to live, and there is a separate London weighting, as the cost of living there is recognised as being higher than in other areas of the UK. At present, the real living wage is set at £9.50 per hour, and the London real living wage is £10.85 per hour, which are considerably more than current NMW and NLW rates. To receive real living wage accreditation, employers must commit to paying staff aged 18 and over the real living wage rate. To retain that accreditation, they must continue to meet the rates as they increase every year. The rates are usually announced in November, and need to be implemented by May the following year. Accredited employers have a responsibility to encourage their suppliers to take up the real living wage.
Moorepay offers absence consultancy package PAYROLL SOFTWARE provider, Moorepay, is now offering a consultancy package, which includes analysis of company absence data. This will allow organisations to spot any emerging absence trends and to anticipate absence before it happens. HR and employment law advice will also be provided to help with the management of specific cases of absence. The latest offering from Moorepay arrives as it is highlighted that absence costs the average business £568 per year, per employee. The aim of the service is to reduce the costs associated with absence, whilst also reducing the risk of businesses being taken to tribunal. Improving absence management can also lead to a more engaged, happier workforce. Having a more effective process in place will also mean that those who work in HR can spend more time focusing on more strategic elements of their roles. IRIS Software Group acquires Payplus SOFTWARE COMPANY, IRIS, has announced that it has acquired Payplus, the payroll services provider for businesses and education organisations in the UK. Payplus was founded in 2008, and offers managed payroll and P11D services, having achieved PAS accreditation. The solutions it offers complement IRIS’s broader managed payroll services portfolio, and the step marks the next stage in IRIS’s mission to increase its reach and market share in the managed payroll services arena. Chief executive officer of IRIS Software Group, Elona Mortimer- Zhika, said: “Our goal is to support our customers to work productively and remain compliant. We are delighted to bring Payplus onboard and will continue to support its growth and invest in its best- in-class services to benefit both existing and new customers.”
Latest naming round published ROUND 17 of the government’s naming scheme has been published, listing the names of 191 organisations that failed to pay more than 34,000 workers in line with NMW rules. The value of these underpayments adds up to a total of £2,100,000. The list, which can be located here: http://ow.ly/I3mf30rQsBX, contains names of firms of various sizes and from a multitude of sectors. The latest list of organisations has been compiled based on investigations carried out by HMRC relating to breaches that occurred in the period between 2011 and 2018. All of them have paid workers the money owed to them, and extra fines were issued equating to £3,200,000. As HMRC’s focus at present is very much on education and helping organisations to get things right, an educational bulletin has been published – http://ow.ly/x5wv30rQsCc – which focuses on common causes of underpayment of the NMW. It is hoped that this will help to prevent other employers from making the same mistakes when paying their staff. Common causes of the underpayment of NMW have been identified as follows: ● deductions taken from pay – for example, in relation to uniform or accommodation ● failure to pay workers for all the time they spend working, particularly for overtime ● paying apprentices incorrectly, and how the NMW interacts with apprentices. Fines associated with failure to pay NMW can be hefty. Penalties can be applied of up to 200% of arrears owed, and the maximum fine issued can be £20,000 per worker, so employers should take steps to ensure correct payment in this space.
MoneyHelper now live – one-stop shop for financial wellbeing THE MONEY and Pensions Service (MaPS) has confirmed that the MoneyHelper service – which is a new single destination to help with financial wellbeing – is now live (visit http://ow.ly/wjru30rQuD1). Anyone who now tries to access the Money Advice Service, Pension Wise or the Pensions Advisory Service websites will automatically be redirected to the relevant MoneyHelper page. Pension Wise will continue as a named service under the MoneyHelper umbrella.
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 73 | September 2021
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