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W ith the election now over, it’s time to take stock of where payroll legislation currently is and where it’s going. The Labour Party manifesto gave us an insight into the direction of travel, but not necessarily how that would be achieved. So, while we were able to get a sense of what to expect, it doesn’t help us to plan or prepare for any changes. This is where the King’s Speech comes in, as here we get the lay of the land regarding the specific legislation the new government wants to introduce. There are four pieces of legislation that will impact the payroll profession in some way, one of which is significantly larger than the others. This article will explore them all and consider what changes they will bring, as well as touching on some notable items not mentioned so far by the newly formed government. Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill Something that will stretch across the both the payroll and human resources (HR) worlds is Labour’s plan to bring in new rights to equalise pay for those with these protected characteristics. This is being done to make it easier for claims of unlawful discrimination to be brought against employers. On top of this, we may see the introduction of pay gap reporting for both race and disability. We’re now used to the process of gender pay gap reporting for larger employers, but should this extension be rolled out there are some things to consider. For payroll teams, these reporting requirements may bring additional administrative burdens and could pose some significant challenges with data collection and reconciliation. Gender is a required field for real time information (gender on birth certificates, at least), and therefore pay gap reporting can be conducted using the payroll records alone, if systems allow. However, ethnicity and disability may not be something your payroll system can capture; this would be better collected in an HR system. You may have an all-in-one HR and payroll system, but for those who don’t, this could represent a large job in pulling these different systems’ data together and producing a compliant report.
Labour’s manifesto and the King’s Speech: the impact on payroll
Now the UK has a new Prime Minister and government in place, Mathew Akrigg ACIPP MAAT, CIPP policy and research officer, reviews the implications of the Labour manifesto and King’s Speech for payroll
Pensions Schemes Bill Labour’s manifesto promised to reform the
landscape of workplace pensions but gave little in way of what that means in practice. Luckily for us, the King’s Speech helped to clarify things. The bill seeks to strengthen pension savings and pension investments, leading to a projected £11,000 more in defined contributions pots over an average earners’ lifetime. One of the ways in which this is to be done is to consolidate deferred small pots – small pensions that have become lost and unused – into larger pots that can be invested better. This stops pots being eroded by fees, but also assists schemes
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | September 2024 | Issue 103 60
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