Professional November 2021

Policy hub

On your behalf

Policy teamupdate

The CIPP’s policy and research team provides an update on developments

W hile much of the population were considering which costume to wear for Halloween, the policy team waited expectantly for the Autumn Budget, which was delivered by chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, on 27 October 2021. Read the policy team’s Budget update, featured later in this issue, to explore what will impact the work of payroll professionals in the not-too-distant future. The team welcomed new policy and research officer, Mathew Akrigg, and have acquainted him with the busy world of policy. As always, there has been involvement in a wide spectrum of activities, all with the aim of educating the profession and ensuring that the voice of members is heard. Events There has been a flurry of activity in the events world – we hope you enjoyed the CIPP’s Annual Conference and Exhibition at the start of October as much as we did. The event was a roaring success, with over 200 attendees, across fifteen informative and engaging sessions. A supplement covering the conference has been included with this month’s issue of the magazine. Policy lead, Samantha Johnson, hosted the CIPP’s technical panel on 17 September – get acquainted with the panel and find out what they spoke about on page 14 of this issue of the magazine. Sam also appeared at Phase 3’s Festival of Knowledge on 12 October and discussed how to solve the conundrums that payroll teams face. Sam did not stop there – she joined Reward Strategy’s Global Payroll

stakeholder forum, which meets to discuss all things CJRS-related. There has been ongoing discussion for some time on the topic of CJRS and offsets. Namely, can you offset an overpayment against an underpayment? Following much debate, the stance is now that yes, you can, if the overpayment and underpayment occurred in the same claim period. What this fundamentally means, is that if an overclaim has been made for one employee, you can offset this by an amount that has been underclaimed, for another employee, in the same claim period. An overclaim made in one period cannot be offset against an underclaim made in another period and the amount underclaimed must be made good to the employee. The guidance discusses this and provides a helpful example. For reference, please see: http://ow.ly/qWVr30rXqdl. Virtual think tank – off-payroll working rules in the public sector The CIPP is inviting members who are part of the public sector special interest group (SIG) to join the National Audit Office (NAO) in a study. It is hoped that this will help to establish any issues that have impeded successful implementation of the reforms to off-payroll working rules. The session will take place on 8 November 2021, and is another shining example of how being a member of the CIPP allows you to get your voice heard. The key areas of focus will be on the check employment status for tax (CEST) tool, compliance with external agencies and the dispute process for status determination statements (SDS). ■

Question Time on 22 September, which was a question-led television broadcast, designed to help the payroll community navigate an ever-evolving payroll landscape. Sam will also be appearing at Zellis Connect in November, where she will join a panel to discuss the impact of processing payroll in the cloud and exploring ways to prepare for any transition to cloud technology, along with the benefits of making the move. Additionally, she’ll lead a session discussing the future of payroll, to include the impacts of technology, soft skills, compliance, succession and recruitment. We promise that Sam does find the time to sleep despite her hectic schedule! National minimum wage (NMW) technical forum A joint Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) technical forum was held to discuss the intricacies of the NMW. BEIS holds the policy on NMW and is responsible for publicly naming those employers who fail to pay workers in line with NMW law. HMRC, however, is responsible for enforcement of the NMW, so it was good to have a session in which both departments were involved. There was lively and interesting discussion and debate, particularly in relation to the considerations surrounding employer use and benefit when establishing what is and isn’t included in calculations for the purposes of NMW.

Coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) offse)ing The policy team sits on the CJRS

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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |

Issue 75 | November 2021

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