Labour plan to introduce 32-hour working week whilst abolishing zero-hour contracts 3 October 2019
MP John McDonnell has pledged that the Labour party will implement a much shorter 32-hour average working week, which will have no detrimental impact on salaries, within the ambitious timescale of ten years.
Employee Benefits has reported that, whilst speaking at the 2019 Labour Party Conference, McDonnell declared, “We should work to live, not live to work” whilst outlining the party’s plans for its next term in government. He pointed out that “millions are exhausted from overwork” and promised to eliminate the option for UK employees to opt out of the EU Working Time Directive, which currently means that staff can be coerced into working more than 48 hours per week, should their employer deem it necessary. McDonnell also passed comment on the controversial issue of zero-hour contracts and advised that they would be abolished to ensure that employees have guaranteed working hours and therefore enough income to realistically live on. In addition to this, he asserted that the National Living Wage would be increased to at least £10 an hour, again reiterating this requirement for a reasonable minimum income to survive on.
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Sajid Javid’s pledge to hike national living wage will be in two phases 9 October 2019
As reported in CIPP’s news online, Sajid Javid vowed to increase the national living wage to £10.50 and also promised that this would no longer be restricted to those over the age of 25 but eventually to any employee aged 21 and over.
The delivery of the decrease to the national living wage age will be rolled out in two steps – the first of which is in 2021, when the national living wage will be accessible to anybody aged 23 and over. Then there will be a second phase, and in 2024 anyone from the age of 21 will be eligible for pay of £10.50 per hour as a legal minimum requirement. The Guardian reported on this and noted that the move will require amendments to secondary legislation but no changes to standard legislation as the figures are proposed by the low pay commission, an advisory body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
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HMRC receive influx of incorrect ‘Disguised Remuneration’ Full Payment Submissions 18 October 2019
In the most recently published bulletin, HMRC have advised that they have received numerous Full Payment Submissions (FPS) from employers in relation to Disguised Remuneration payments.
There is guidance around the correct reporting of Disguised Remuneration payments here.
The only scenarios where loans should be reported are where employees have been paid in the form of a loan to escape attracting tax and National Insurance liabilities, or where loan amounts are outstanding and subject to the ‘loan charge’.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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