Official publication of The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
in Payroll, Pensions & Reward
Issue 34 October 2017
National Payroll Week 2017
Absence management Features and facets
Phantoms of the OpRA Beyond rehearsals
Intermediaries legislation Disguised employment
CIPP update | Policy hub | Professional development
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Payroll & HR Solutions
“Don’t worry when you are not recognised, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
National Payroll Week reminds employers, employees and the government of the essential role the payroll function plays in compliance, collection of taxes and delivery of social and employment policies. Seeing this year’s NPW CIPP staff awards Editor’s comment
crucial social/employment statutory requirement. Are the failures more extensive than currently being revealed (see page 20), and who should shoulder responsibility? This month’s feature topic is absence management (see pages 36–39) which is a continuing source of concern for employers. Mental ill-health is one of the main causes of long-term absence, resulting in15.8 million days being lost annually. Lisa Gillespie (page 39) quite rightly sets out a call to action from the government.
(pages 12/13) made me think about the well-deserved honours that I wish I’d bestowed on colleagues in finance and personnel departments from my distant payroll processing past. Might the CIPP’s staff awards be an inspirational prototype for future NPWs across the UK? Pages 8/9 feature an article on the national minimum/living wage. It seems increasingly evident large number of employers are failing – whether deliberately or otherwise – to comply with this
Mike Nicholas MCIPP AMBCS Editor
Chair’s message
For once I seem to be on terra firma in the UK and starting out at the busiest time in our CIPP payroll calendar. The House of Commons launch was a wonderful event, starting our celebrations
progress your chartered institute into the future. You will have an opportunity to vote online this year and full details can be found on the CIPP website. In the past, for whatever reason, our members have not always felt it necessary to vote for board candidates. With there being so many applicants this year, it’s more important than ever to look at the skills and experience of each candidate and ensure you are confident the board of directors have the make up to set the strategy for the CIPP, especially with the impending addition of a new membership level coming soon, to be announced at our Annual Conference. I’m really excited about our conference this year, and hope that I will get the opportunity to meet with as many of you as possible at our flagship event of the year.
‘Putting the spotlight on payroll’ at the beginning of National Payroll Week (see page 12). It was great to see and hear from so many payroll professionals. We followed that with our second Scottish National Conference where we heard from key note speaker Anton Colella, chief executive of ICAS (see page 14) and were informed about topical subjects – such as money laundering, the General Data Protection Regulation, devolution and Brexit – and the latest from The Pension’s Regulator amongst many more. It really was a successful event. As I said in the September issue, we were delighted to receive so many applications for a position as board director. I trust that you will all look through the candidates thoroughly and select the individuals who you feel would best represent you as a member and you would trust to act on your behalf to
Eira Hammond FCIPPdip Chair, CIPP
Summer is now long gone as we enter a very busy autumn season. It was good to see so many distinguished guests celebrate National Payroll Week at the House of Commons on 4 CEO’s message
review the criteria of each board applicant to ensure you are ably represented by board members with an appropriate mix of skills representative of our industry. As we approach November, it’s time for celebration as we hold our Graduation Ceremony for those who have successfully completed our university approved qualifications. To our successful graduates for this year, I remind you to maintain your CIPP membership to ensure you stay up to date, compliant and can continue to use the well-earned letters after your name.
September, ably inaugurated by our chair, Eira Hammond. Next this month is our Annual Conference and Excellence Awards ceremony, once again with a high calibre agenda and an outstanding number of quality submissions for our Awards. I look forward to meeting up with many of you at the conference and to celebrate with our winners at the Awards. As the chair alludes to in her message, Eira has written several articles this year encouraging members to consider board membership – and the response has been superb. I would endorse Eira’s comments that prior to casting your vote you carefully
Ken Pullar FCIPP Chief executive officer, CIPP
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 34 | October 2017
in Payroll, Pensions & Reward PROFESSI NAL
Also available online at payrollpensionsandreward.org.uk
Contents
October 2017
47
Working for a healthier tomorrow
Lisa Gillespie contends recent findings are a call to action
Features
30
28
8
NMW/NLW impact Samantha Mann reports key discussion points from a recent Think Tank
Intermediaries legislation Tim Bridgett explores whether it’s working as intended
Phantoms of the OpRA Roundtable report
36
41
38
Worker status, disability and holiday pay Nicola Mullineux reviews decisions in three cases
The impact of tribunal fee abolition Danny Done sets out effects of the Supreme Court’s judgment
Pension contributions triple next April Henry Tapper provides advice on what to say to staff
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2017 | Issue 34 2
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42
Editor Mike Nicholas 01273 412 836 | editor@cipp.org.uk Advertising Jill Bonehill 0121 712 1033 | advertising@cipp.org.uk Design James Bartlett and Nicole Gumery design@cipp.org.uk Printing Warwick Printing Company Ltd
Achieving good pension outcomes Alan Morahan looks at achievement of retirement dreams
Absence management: time for change Kavitha Sivasubramaniam explains the benefits to business
Chief executive Ken Pullar FCIPP CIPP board of directors
50
49
Gordon Cresswell FCIPP Jason Davenport ACIPP Eira Hammond FCIPPdip Ros Hendren MSc FCIPP, Mgr, FCMIdip, FHEA Paul Rains MCIPP Karen Thomson MSc FCIPP, FHEA Cliff Vidgeon FCIPP Ian Walters Msc, FCIPP, FHEA Ian Whyteside MCIPP, FMAAT, ATT
Given GDPR, is emailing payslips safe? John Borland relates his experiences and provides helpful advice
Self-service functionality Laura Cottam and Stuart Price assert self-service portals be used
Useful contacts Membership membership@cipp.org.uk 0121 712 1073 Education education@cipp.org.uk 0121 712 1023 Training admin@cipp.org.uk 0121 712 1063 Events events@cipp.org.uk 0121 712 1013 Marketing and sales marketing@cipp.org.uk 0121 712 1033 General enquiries
Regulars
01 Editor’s comment,
35 Reward insight 40 Pensions insight 43 Pensions news 44 Feature articles Absence management 49 Technology insight 52 Industry news 58 Confessions of a payroll manager Additional online content 14 Extended NPW report 26 Phantoms of the OpRA (roundtable) 32 Payroll ID mismatches 35 Gender pay gap reporting will empower HR 51 GDPR roundtable report The Pensions Regulator
and Chair’s and CEO’s message Events, news and developments
04 Membership insight On your behalf, Advisory, Five minutes with 11 National Payroll Week Launch, CIPP staff awards, Scottish conference report PAS accreditations, CIPP Annual Awards shortlist 22 Professional development CPD, Diary of a student 24 Events Horizon 21 CIPP update
info@cipp.org.uk 0121 712 1000
cipp.org.uk @cipp_uk
Articles Please support this magazine so that it can continue to be a part of your membership package. Trademarks The CIPP logo, the initials ‘CIPP’ and the words ‘Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward’ and ‘CIPP Consult’ are trademarks of the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals. Copyright: The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals 2017. The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals, CIPP, Goldfinger House, 245 Cranmore Boulevard, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 4ZL. Switchboard 0121 712 1000 Fax 0121 712 1001 Copyright This magazine is published by The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals in whom the copyright is vested. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retreival system, or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the CIPP or the editor. The information and comment contained in this publication are given in good faith, their accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed.
25 Payroll news 26 Payroll insight
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 34 | October 2017
MEMBERSHIP INSIGHT
On your behalf
Policy team update
Diana Bruce MCIPPdip, CIPP senior policy liaison officer, provides an update on a range of topics
Consultation for evidence on the NMW In July, the CIPP submitted its formal response to provide evidence of the impact that the national minimum wage (NMW) and national living wage (NLW) rates are having, and will continue to have, on businesses. We collected the views of our members and others within the payroll profession through an electronic survey which ran from 13 June to 5 July and received a total of 55 responses. Summary of key findings: ● 82.5% of respondents report that their paybill has increased since the introduction of the NLW ● 80% state that the NLW has not affected the total number of jobs in the business ● 22.5% have reduced the overall number of hours worked in the business ● almost 80% say that the business is now making more use of zero-hours contracts ● 60% report staff turnover has reduced as a result of the NLW ● the majority (61.5%) state that the NLW has not affected premium and overtime
pay in the business ● responses are divided as to the effect of NLW on pay differentials, with 48.6% saying pay differentials have been maintained and the same number saying they have reduced ● more than three quarters of respondents (76.9%) report the NLW has had no effect on the total benefits package offered by their business ● an overwhelming 92.5% say the NLW has had no effect on the age profile of the workforce ● 94.8% report that the introduction of NLW has not affected the number of workers employed below the age of 25 ● no respondents say that the increased apprentice rate has affected the number of apprentices they employ, with almost 44% saying they pay above the apprentice rate ● more than 80% say they have no problems complying with the NMW or NLW ● many respondents raised concerns about the impact the introduction of the NLW has had on salary sacrifice arrangements
● though several respondents feel the introduction of the NLW has been a positive move, concerns have been raised about the reduced ability to reward staff for skills and experience ● several respondents suggested the NLW rates should be based on abilities rather than age. The full consultation response and survey results, including the CIPP’s conclusions and recommendations, are available in the MY CIPP/Policy Hub/ consultation area of our website. Have you begun preparation for GDPR? During July 2017, the CIPP ran a poll asking about employer readiness for May 2018 when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is implemented in the UK. We received 343 responses in total: 31% of respondents said they have begun data preparation, but almost the same amount (29%) had not actually heard of GDPR. Although just over a third (34%) have a plan in place to start preparations, 29% stated that reading the poll was the first time they had heard of GDPR, and the last 6% had heard of GDPR but did not think it applicable to their organisation.
...29% stated that reading the poll was the first time they had heard of GDPR...
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2017 | Issue 34 4
Policy hub
12 steps to take now The Information Commissioner’s Office has a useful document Preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR) 12 steps to take now (http://bit. ly/1XLwlsA) which covers: awareness; information you hold; individuals’ rights; communicating privacy information; lawful basis for processing personal data; subject access requests; consent; data breaches; children; data protection by design and data protection impact assessments; data protection officers; international. Follow this link for full details of the CIPP half-day training course: http://bit. ly/2w2eMvR. In-house training options are available and this course will help you understand and prepare for the changes under GDPR, including how they affect the payroll and HR functions, so that you can help your organisations become fully compliant by May 2018. Public sector exit payments cap The policy team wanted to establish how many relevant public sector employers have made the necessary changes ‘expected’ by government in relation to the public sector exit payments cap of £95,000. After the aforementioned GDPR poll, we ran another which at the time of writing was still running. Early indications showed that 45% didn’t know there was a change and 37% haven’t yet made any changes. 10% of respondents had already made changes, and the remaining 8% are planning to make changes. So, what are these changes that many are unaware of? Firstly, let me clarify the current position. Regulations do not yet exist that create the public sector exit cap itself. The Treasury, Scottish Ministers and Welsh Ministers have had the power to bring forward regulations since 1 February 2017, but they have not yet done so. The government’s expectation is that the necessary changes be made to compensation schemes and other arrangements within nine months of the publication of their consultation response. ● Background – In September 2016, the government published their response to the consultation on Reforms to public sector exit payments (http:// bit.ly/2cGjPf9). The response outlined the government’s expectations that
departments should begin work to produce proposals for reform for each workforce by the end of 2016. The response document outlined the process and timeline for reform. The detail of exit arrangements are to be negotiated at workforce level; departments responsible for the workforces will take forward the detailed design and analysis of proposals for exit payment reform, within the overall framework and principles for reform set out in the response. ...go back to the court that issued the notification... The government expects departments to begin work immediately to produce proposals for reform for each workforce that are consistent with the terms set out in the document and with the government’s principles for reform. The government will consider the case for applying elements of the framework flexibly on a workforce by workforce basis. Examples of where the government may consider there is a case for flexibility may include where it can be demonstrated that a particular option may not lead to significant cost savings; where there is an alternative approach that may deliver commensurate cost savings; or where workforce demographics mean that a particular option may have unwarranted equalities or other workforce impacts. The government expects departments to put forward proposals for reform within three months of the publication of the government response (end of 2016). Departments should then consult on proposals as appropriate and should follow the normal process of discussions and negotiations with trade unions and other workforce representatives to seek agreement to their reform proposals. The government expects this discussion process to be concluded, agreement reached and the necessary changes made to compensation schemes and other arrangements within nine months of the publication of the response. That takes us to the end of June 2017. The response also says that should it not be possible to achieve meaningful reform for one or more workforces, the government will consider options for primary legislation to take forward reform. ● Devolved administrations – In both the
exit payment recovery and exit payment cap reforms, the government position has been that the reforms would apply to those areas which are the responsibility of the UK government. It would be for the Scottish government, Welsh government and Northern Ireland executive to determine if and how they wanted to take forward similar arrangements in relation to devolved bodies and workforces. However, if and when a legislative consent motion is required, it would be for the devolved administrations themselves to decide whether this is a desirable approach. The Policy News Journal , a benefit reserved exclusively for CIPP members, contains articles that we have written on this subject with further details and links to the relevant legislation. All published information on our polls and surveys can be found in the Policy News Journal , (under My CIPP on our website) Off-payroll working and court orders At one of our recent national forums a member raised a question when we were talking about student loans and off-payroll working in the public sector. Though guidance (http://bit.ly/2vdJsJm) advises not to apply a student loan for an off-payroll worker, what happens with court orders? Under normal circumstances courts would only issue court orders to the individual’s employer, which would be the personal service company (the company owned by the individual); therefore, the responsibility would fall to them. However, if the end client did receive a court order for someone caught under the off-payroll working regime, they should go back to the court that issued the notification to advise them that the individual is not an employee and therefore they cannot operate the court order as instructed. Further information on off-payroll working in the public sector can be found on GOV.UK (http://bit.ly/2kEwmCV). Q
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 34 | October 2017
MEMBERSHIP INSIGHT
expenses. Are these ‘air miles’ considered to be a reportable benefit? A: There will not be a reportable benefit provided that the air miles belong to the employee rather than the employer, and they are not considered as being provided by reason of the employment. This also includes if the goods or services giving rise to these air miles happen to be purchased as part of the employee’s business travel or using a credit card provided by the employer. Generally, in these circumstances there is no tax liability and the employer and the supplier of the air miles would not need to report this to HMRC, and the employee would not need to put them on a tax return. Where the air miles are provided by reason of the employment then there is a tax liability for the employee, which would occur where the employer bought the air miles to be distributed to employee. In this event, they would need to be reported in a P11D return. HMRC provide guidance on this subject in its Employment Income Manual at https://goo.gl/F4hh66. Q: We have a client who is a paid director. She is the only person on the payroll and has not been working continuously. She has recently given birth. Should we pay her SMP if she provides a MATB1 notice and meets all the qualifying conditions? A: If she meets all the following qualifying conditions she will be entitled to SMP: ● she must earn an average of at least £113 a week ● has worked for the employer continuously for at least 26 weeks up to the qualifying week (i.e. the fifteenth week before the expected week of childbirth) ● gives the correct notice, and ● provides proof of pregnancy (e.g. MATB1 notice). Also, the employee has up to the thirteenth week of the maternity payment period in which to claim SMP, if there is an acceptable reason for the delay. Q: We have received some payment claims that may be subject to the IR35 off-payroll working legislation. It is clear from the invoices that some of the work has been carried out over several months. Should Class 1 NICs be calculated over a number of pay periods which reflect when the work was carried out?
Advisory Service is available 9a.m. to 5p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, and 9a.m.
to 4.30p.m. on Fridays. It is free to all CIPP members * , students and attendees of approved CIPP courses and conferences in the last six months. Call 0121 712 1099 , email advisory.service@cipp.org.uk or visit cipp.org.uk for frequently asked questions.
Advisory
*please see summary at cippmembership.org.uk for details.
Q: An employee handed in her MATB1 notice to the human resources (HR) team when she was 25-weeks’ pregnant, and has requested to take statutory maternity leave (SML). Though the employee was informed by HR that she was entitled to statutory maternity pay (SMP) it was discovered at the last minute that her average weekly earnings were below the lower earnings level (LEL) for Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs) and therefore she was not entitled. We issued a form SMP1 at the start of the SML period. Was this the correct procedure? A: The correct procedure in this situation is that the employer should issue the SMP1 form – which is used to inform employees that they are not entitled to SMP – within seven days of the request for SMP and SML. This will ensure that an employee has enough time to apply for maternity allowance (MA) from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and for this to be paid immediately when the employee starts her SML. A delay in sending form SMP1 to the employee could mean that she may not receive the full 39 weeks of MA she is entitled to. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) provide guidance in the Employment Income Manual (https:// goo.gl/exXvHw) and this explains that the SMP1 form and the MATB1 notice should be returned promptly to the employee if she does not qualify; failure to do so could result in a penalty up to a maximum of £3,000.
Q: We have a scenario where an employee is requesting to take statutory adoption pay and leave (SAP, SAL) for a child that he adopted in January 2017, and the adoption was from abroad. The employee has requested to start SAP and SAL in October 2017. Is the employee able to do this? A: When adopting a child from abroad an employee has only twenty-eight days from the time the child enters the United Kingdom to take SAP and SAL. In this case, the employee cannot have the SAL or SAP and the employer will need to issue to the employee a form SAP1 which informs him that the employer cannot pay SAP. Q: Our situation is that an employee was not entitled to SMP but was entitled to MA. What is the position regarding keeping in touch (KIT) days? A: I can confirm that where an employee is not entitled to SMP but is entitled to MA instead she can work up to ten KIT days and this would not affect her MA she receives from the DWP/Jobcentreplus. She should inform the DWP/Jobcentreplus when she works any KIT days; and if exceeding the ten KIT days she will lose some MA. The employee and employer should agree the rate of pay that she will be paid for the work carried out on these KIT days, The employer should pay at least the appropriate national minimum/living wage for working a KIT day. Q: Recently within our business an employee has gained ‘air miles’ from the reimbursement of business
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2017 | Issue 34 6
Policy hub
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A: NICs should be calculated based on when the payment for the invoice is made. If the invoices are submitted monthly and paid monthly, then you would work out the NICs monthly, but if there is one amount on one invoice (even if it is for more than one month) the employer would calculate NICs for one pay period only when the payment of the invoice is processed. Q: I believe that Northern Ireland has slightly different NICs rules. Are there any complications if I put an employee who works in Northern Ireland on a UK payroll for pay as you earn (PAYE) purposes? A: The rules and guidelines for a Northern Irish employee on a UK payroll are generally the same as for the rest of the UK except for items like redundancy rates and employment protection daily rate. I confirm that there is no difference to NICs rates or tax thresholds in this scenario. Q: My enquiry concerns a situation where there was a buyout of a company last year which resulted in some employees moving tax references. When they received their P60 certificate for tax year 2016/17 it only showed NICs for nine months under the new PAYE reference, and this has led to many complaints from employees. Can you advise how we can handle this situation? A: You could produce two separate statement of earnings showing the two PAYE references and the total contributions across the two references so these employees have a record of what they paid over the whole year. There should only be one P60 certificate issued from the new PAYE scheme for these employees. The employees could choose to confirm with the National Insurance Contributions Office that their contributions are recorded on their record, and whether there was a full year of contributions. The employee can use this link to check their NICs are up to date: https://goo.gl/TN3Lv5. Q: One of my clients is a restaurant owner, and recently the staff asked to set up a tronc for the cash tips that are received from customers. Can these tips be processed through the client’s payroll under the PAYE scheme reference?
A: If the employer is involved in the distribution of the tips, then these would be processed through the employer’s payroll and PAYE scheme and subject to income tax and Class 1 NICs. Where the tips are either given in cash to the employees or left on the table so the employee can receive them, the responsibility is that of the employee not the employer. If a ‘tronc’ is set up there must be a person designated as the ‘troncmaster’, who must apply for a new PAYE scheme which will be separate from the employer’s PAYE scheme. The reason for this is so the employees will be taxed on the tips/gratuities through a separate scheme to their main income, and there will be no liability for NICs on these tips in this scenario. Also, the troncmaster would be wholly responsible for calculating, deducting and reporting the PAYE to HMRC via real time information. Please use this link to GOV.UK: https:// goo.gl/exwUvH. Q: We have an employee who is being made redundant on 13 September 2017. We received a paternity leave request from him on 23 September 2017 asking to take two weeks’ statutory paternity leave and pay (SPL and SPP), commencing on 1 October 2017. Do we have to pay SPP to him as a payment after leaving? A: One of the conditions of taking SPL is that the employee must be employed by the employer up to and into the week of taking SPL. So, as this employee left the employment on 13 September and the SPL commences on 1 October 2017, there is no entitlement to SPL or pay. Please follow this link to GOV.UK for information on paternity pay and leave: https://goo.gl/k7SNQ5. n
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Issue 34 | October 2017
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
*correct at time of publication
MEMBERSHIP INSIGHT
NMW/NLW impact
Samantha Mann MAAT, MCIPPDip, CIPP senior policy & research officer, reports the key discussion points from a recent Think Tank
L ate summer MHR hosted a CIPP policy Think Tank roundtable that saw members and others involved in minimum wage issues meet with the Low Pay Commission (LPC) as it looked to conclude its 2017 annual review of the national minimum wage (NMW) and national living wage (NLW). This annual review focussed on: ● evidence of the impact of increases in the NLW (both the 2016 introduction and the latest increase in April 2017) on workers, employers, the labour market and the economy ● the economic outlook following the vote to leave the European Union ● the impact of the new rate for those between 21 and 24 years old, including the effect that the gaps between the different rates have on different age groups’ labour market performance ● affordability and effects of possible future introduction of the NLW had increased the challenges for employers and considered whether more could be done to improve overall compliance, and if so were seeking views as to how. Following the roundtable introductions, LPC policy officer Joseph Cooper provided a background to the work of the Commission and its findings so far, which he delivered against the backdrop of a report the Commission had published in April 2017. This report described the impact – including latest evidence on the gains and risk – that has arisen from the higher pay floor which now exists due to introduction of the NLW. increases rates, particularly for 2018. The LPC focused on whether the
Topics shared during discussion included: ● Impact on pay differentials within businesses – With many members sharing their experiences of how pay differentials have been limited now because of the increase brought about with the NLW introduction, few if any members could report being able to increase pay rates across the board to match the increase brought in for the NLW workers. ...opportunity by government to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’, which is not a sustainable policy... ● Increasing focus on profit levels – Many members reported their employers having taken a hit on profit levels so far, but a long-term drop in profits is not sustainable. In turn, this lead to discussion about how some contracts are not being bid for simply because the margins are too limiting where salary costs would see only minimum wage rates payable. Views were shared that the current government focus with minimum wage rates is increasingly being seen by many as an opportunity by government to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’, which is not a sustainable policy. ● Employee relations – Setting aside the impact that tightened pay differentials are having on employee motivation, one member reported employees questioning why they didn’t receive 50p an hour increase
as promised by the media coverage that followed Georgie Osborne’s announcement that introduced the NLW. ● Impact on salary sacrifice – The impact of the minimum wage on employees being ineligible for salary sacrifice continues to be an issue that will increase as many employers have used salary sacrifice to support their delivery of automatic enrolment. This is an increasing issue with predictions of many employees having to be removed from such schemes as the rate for NLW increases to its target rate of 60% median earnings. Concern was expressed that many employees would simply look to come out of pension scheme savings as rates increase and their access to Class 1 National Insurance contributions savings removed. ● Impact across the pay increases company wide – One member reported that though NLW workers had received a 4.2% increase due to the large increase brought in with the NLW, an overall increase of just over 1% was achieved across the company; clearly equity in pay increases was not possible due to cost. ● Guidance available on minimum wage calculations – The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) owns the policy on NMW and NLW, and is responsible for publishing and updating guidance on calculating the NMW (recently updated in April 2017). Guidance is also available in a significantly simplified format, together with a simple NMW calculator, on GOV.UK. Concerns continue about how effective the guidance is in making clear to employers as to how the minimum wage
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2017 | Issue 34 8
Policy hub
should be calculated and what types of pay exist and how easily employers may confuse the types they might be paying. If we take salaried hours pay as a key example, there is a vital interplay between the wording within terms of employment and how pay may be detailed on a payslip. Where one element is incorrect it will be likely that an HMRC compliance officer will deem a ‘salaried pay’ worker to be a ‘time work’ worker instead. ● BEIS naming scheme – Discussion around the work of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC’s) compliance teams inevitably leads to discussion of BEIS’s naming scheme, which recently included a list of 233 names of employers that have underpaid their employees. Whilst the naming scheme has existed for many years we now have a comparison that we can make with another naming scheme – that of The Pensions Regulator (TPR). TPR use their scheme in a more proportionate and useful manner that details only employers that have been persistent with their non-compliance to the extent that court action is needed. The resulting naming results in TPR publishing a press release together with a detailed case study that
they use in their presentations to continue educating employers, advisers and agents on how to comply with their duties. Much more could be done by BEIS and HMRC to learn from the example set by TPR. ● More joined-up compliance work – Comments were fed in to the discussion about how HMRC could utilise other linked areas of compliance findings, such as employment status issues arising from false self-employment. This could enable HMRC to be more likely to attack intentional non-compliance by those organisations that seek to avoid their employer obligations by working in ever-more imaginative ways. It was acknowledged in the meeting that there is hope that more will be done to join up this area of compliance under the work of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement. Much work is being carried out across government to support the key policy commitment to ensure “…all employers are compliant with minimum wage legislation and the effective enforcement of it”. However, an over-riding concern shared was that with every key government policy and new piece of legislation unveiled – and automatic enrolment together with the apprenticeship levy (significantly the cost of
them) featured significantly in discussions surrounding minimum wage payment and compliance – there comes a mirroring obligation on government to also educate employers, advisers and their agents to ensure legislation can be complied with. Increasingly, there appears to be belief across government that real time information is the panacea to all ‘evils’ that will ensure employers deliver on key government policies and that payroll software will deliver all necessary solutions to enable this. Without government delivering essential guidance in a coherent, accurate and timely manner this can’t happen, and the Government Digital Services needs to recognise the important role that detailed technical information and guidance continues to hold. It remains a vital factor to ensuring full employer compliance and yet it is becoming less available as each new policy is delivered. Q Reminder The CIPP policy team always values your feedback as to your experiences and never before has this been truer than with minimum wage compliance. Your emails are welcome to policy@cipp.org.uk .
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 34 | October 2017
Reach the top with the CIPP
MEMBERSHIP INSIGHT
5 minutes with…
MSc inBusiness andReward Management Available to payroll, pensions and reward professionals who wish to further enhance their skills and knowledge in relation to work based business and management, the MSc in Business and Reward Management builds on your industry knowledge and skills to take your capabilities to a strategic leadership level.
Emma Rowbottom BA (Hons) Marketing and communications team leader
Tell us about your, career and background I started with the CIPP in February 2009 as a marketing administrator fresh out of university and following a few months travelling Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and America. It was my first marketing role and I was excited to join the CIPP team. During my time with the CIPP I progressed to be a marketing executive looking after the communications, website and social media platforms. I moved into a membership marketing executive role which focused on member engagement strategy and the execution of membership communications. In October 2015, I became the marketing team leader and in November 2016 this role evolved into the marketing and communications team leader. Describe your role I have a dual role which involves focusing on both the marketing and membership strategy. The marketing focuses on a ‘one team’ culture which requires sharing of ideas and willingness to support all business areas. The aim is to enable the overall corporate objectives to be satisfied. Key areas include providing editorial content and the coordination of distribution for the Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward magazine , planning, coordinating and creating content for email, direct mail and social media campaigns along with the CIPP website and attending CIPP member events and external events. The membership department focuses on the member, through joining to renewal and the membership benefits that are included. The team oversees the celebration of National Payroll Week and the opportunity for you to have your say via the CIPP Annual General Meeting. We are continuously working on the engagement strategy focusing on
membership benefits with the aim of increased retention and value for the member. What does the role mean to you? What I enjoy most is speaking to the members, hearing how the CIPP has benefitted them, the profession and assisted individuals to make progress within their career. We are fortunate to have passionate members who strongly believe in the CIPP and the work we are doing so it’s always great to hear from them and very rewarding. What do you think you can bring to the strategy of the CIPP? We believe payroll should be a highly respected and valued part of any business and our job within the marketing and membership departments is to help to raise the profile of the profession whenever and however we can. The membership team is very excited about Individual Chartered Status, which will go a long way to emphasising the professional status of our industry. What does the future hold for payroll, pensions and reward? Well, one thing we can always be certain of in the payroll profession is that we should expect more change. And with the introduction of General Data Protection Regulation next May and Brexit in 2019, I think there are interesting and exciting times ahead. What do you do in your available time to unwind? I enjoy spending time with my family and friends who are really important to me. My favourite way to spend a weekend is exploring the countryside with my husband Graham, horse Harley and little dog Alfie. Q
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Enrol now at cippqualifications.org.uk or email info@cipp.org.uk for more information.
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | XX
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2017 | Issue 34 10
National Payroll Week
This year’s theme ‘ spotlight on payroll ’ recognises and celebrates not only the impact of payroll on business, but also the contribution that payroll makes to the UK economy. This year we wanted to show the importance of payroll by shining it in the spotlight, hence the theme: putting payroll in the spotlight. Payroll plays a vital role in all organisations; it allows staff to be paid on time, every time. It affects every aspect of an organisation, from the reputation of the company right down to the morale of its employees. Payroll doesn’t stop there, there are more than 1.3 million employers in the UK 1 and almost £150 million in PAYE income tax 2 was collected from 31.9 million employees in 2016-17 3 . National Payroll Week recognises and celebrates the importance of payroll in business and the UK economy. National Payroll Week is the time to celebrate and recognise this and put your payroll team in the spotlight. This year we had over 2,000 organisations get involved.
1 House of Commons Library Briefing Paper number 06152 2 HMRC’s income tax and NIC receipts June 2017 3 Office for National Statistics Employment and Employee types June 2017
The CIPP would like to thank our sponsors for National Payroll Week
Main sponsor
Also sponsoring
Media partner
PORTFOLIO PAYROLL LTD
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Issue 34 | October 2017
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
NATIONAL PAYROLL WEEK
CIPP’s National Payroll Week 2017 launch event
The CIPP launched National Payroll Week 2017 with its fourth annual event at the House of Commons on Monday 4 September. This successful event was hosted by Eira Hammond, CIPP chair, who gave a speech on ‘Putting payroll in the spotlight’. Eira went on to say that “the reasoning behind the theme is that so many payroll professionals within their respective organisations play a pivotal role, and during National Payroll Week we take the time to celebrate all the good work they do up and down the country. Often behind the scenes and diligently getting on with making sure their colleagues (or clients in the case of the software and services suppliers) all get paid accurately and on time”. Eira also touched on upcoming developments such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where Eira continued: “as well as our own internal practices we have a duty to help our members navigate through this and highlight what they can start to do to prepare”. On the horizon is Individual Chartered Status – and Eira confirmed the launch will be taking place at “our Annual Payroll and Pensions Conference at the Celtic Manor in a few weeks’ time”. Eira briefly mentioned the CIPP’s payroll futures survey “to measure and understand even further the pressures and challenges put upon the profession, both internally and externally and how they currently
Main Sponsor - Portfolio Payroll
PORTFOLIO PAYROLL LTD
Portfolio Payroll is proud to have a long-standing relationship with the CIPP, and we were excited to once again be the main sponsors for this year’s National Payroll Week. With an emphasis on putting payroll in the spotlight, we’ve been celebrating and highlighting the important role that payroll plays in the success of any organisation through to celebrating the hard work and dedication of payroll professionals throughout the UK. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the launch evening at the House of Commons, a fantastic setting to put the #spotlightonpayroll! And we hope you all had the opportunity to enjoy celebrating NPW and had fun with the fantastic contributions you all made.
Danny Done, chief executive officer, Portfolio Payroll
PayDashboard
As official sponsors of National Payroll Week, PayDashboard were really excited to throw ourselves into the celebrations. We attended the CIPP’s launch event at the House of Commons, where Tim Phillips our new commercial director enjoyed meeting CIPP members and staff. Back in the office our marketing team were busy working on five employee guides which we shared throughout NPW and for which we have received positive feedback. For us, it was great to see so many people getting involved in #NPW17. We work with companies to deliver digital payslips to their employees, so we know exactly how important payroll is to a company and how stressful and frantic things can be. It was great to take time out to celebrate the fantastic role that payroll plays in businesses – because, let’s face it, no employee likes being paid late or incorrectly! Well done to everyone involved for making #NPW17 a success.
Mike Binns, chief executive officer, Paydashboard
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2017 | Issue 34 12
National Payroll Week
The CIPP spotlight awards
In keeping with the theme ‘putting payroll in the spotlight’ the CIPP held its own employee spotlight awards where staff got the chance to vote and choose the winners for sixteen categories. The awards were held in our Solihull office on Tuesday 5 September where Ken Pullar, CIPP’s chief executive officer, hosted and presented the awards to the winners. Our very own payroll team were presented with flowers and gifts to recognise their hard work and put them in the spotlight.
CIPP awards ceremony
Dawn Parry and Shirley Harris
Carrie Millin
Stacey Graham
Kathryn Ross
CIPP awards
Donna Williams
Sarah Jones
Dawn Parry
Abacus award – for being there to count on: Caroline Henderson; Champagne award – for most sparkling personality: Carrie Millin; Single file award – for keeping everyone in line: Stacey Graham; Duct tape award – for being able to just about fix anything: Dawn Baxter; Human vulture award – for eating anything found lying around: Anthony Ali; Running with the bulls award – for the biggest risk taker: Kathryn Ross; Hump day award – for the most excited about Wednesday: Sarah Jones; Bermuda triangle award – for the desk where things go in but don’t come out: Dawn Parry; Back in the day award – For most nostalgic: Donna Williams; 99% perspiration award – for willingness to put in hard work: Joanne Leather; The drama king/queen award – because everything is always a big deal: Kirsty Jones; The best tea maker award – for putting on the kettle and making a great cuppa: Olivia Parkes; Office prankster award – because whats an office without a prankster: Jack Grinnell; The smelliest lunch award – for having the smelliest lunch in the office: Brad Carpenter; Best office vocals – for being pitch perfect: Chloe Townley; Kool and the Gang Award – for the team/department who work best together: James Bartlett and Nicole Gumery.
Joanne Leather
Kirsty Jones
Olivia Parkes
Jack Grinnell
Nicole Gumery and James Bartlett
Brad Carpenter
Chloe Townley
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Issue 34 | October 2017
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
NATIONAL PAYROLL WEEK
Reward Strategy - Media partner
Payroll professionals not only perform the crucial task of paying people the right amount at the right time, but they are also increasingly responsible for ensuring employers comply with legislation and regulations forming key government policy. Despite this, they seldom get the recognition that they deserve – mostly because they perform the task so effectively and efficiently that no one notices. National Payroll Week, therefore, is the perfect opportunity to put payroll in the spotlight and celebrate an industry and function that no one can live without.
Jerome Smail, Reward Strategy
Mazars LLP
CME Personnel Consultancy Ltd
Mazars LLP held a bake sale for NPW. They have nineteen offices in the UK with four as payroll centres of excellence: Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool and London. Each team organised a mix of games and bake sales for local charities that don’t receive a lot of funding.
The CME Personnel Consultancy Ltd has always celebrated NPW with a donation to a good cause and in this special year (the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the payroll bureau), the NPW theme of ‘Spotlight on payroll’ was very suitable. Managing director Caroline Elsey is a keen theatre-goer with a very strong bias towards pantomime, so the decision was taken to sponsor the second year of the Great British Pantomime Awards. Caroline says there is no better relaxation for a hard- worked payroller than a good British panto and she should know as she saw thirty six in the last season. The inaugural Awards event was held at the theatre cafe in Shaftesbury Avenue earlier this year and the ‘Spotlight’ selfie poster in picture shows Christopher Biggins with Caroline and with Sharon D Clarke (the winner of the Best Female Baddie).
Alight Solutions
2017 is the first year Alight Solutions celebrated NPW. They enjoyed preparing homemade treats, raising money for charity, running payroll shadowing sessions, daily quizzes and fun facts that helped others to understand more about payroll and see the payroll team in action.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | October 2017 | Issue 34 14
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