100TH ISSUE
LinkedIn for articles and blogs on all things payroll related. Following and connecting with liked-minded people is always a good place to start. Then why not try and post yourself? Pick something you have an interest in, research it and write about it. Writing is always a good way to embed knowledge. Social media is a really good starting point for keeping up with legislation. Websites It’s always good to bookmark useful websites to keep up to date with legislative change. If you’re new to researching and digesting legislation, https:// ow.ly/xqzQ50QWpgA provides a good introduction to how legislation works, how it comes into force and so on. This is also the page where all legislation is documented. It’s big, and a word of warning: if you do just start searching NMW, for instance, there are (at the time of writing) 46 pieces of legislations listed, so you may need to do more research into which one holds the information you need. For example, if you wanted to read the wording for the changes to the NMW calculation year, if you know when this changed, you can search for that month and year within the legislation (April 2020, for those who are interested). Another website I would suggest is that of Parliament, specifically Bills and legislation. You can search for all the Bills currently going through Parliament and see where they are in the process of receiving Royal Assent, along with any changes made while going through the House of Commons and House of Lords. Have a look for yourself, here: https:// ow.ly/1ETK50QWq1G. Some areas of the CIPP website are available to all but others can only be used if you’re a member. Members also receive the weekly News Online email on a Wednesday, providing updates straight to their inbox. There’s so much useful information on the website, and you can also use the Advisory Service for more technical support if you’re a member. Government websites, so https:// ow.ly/fawe50QWrGB, https://
ow.ly/8VWm50QWrJ0, https://ow.ly/ yjQb50QWrKJ and https://ow.ly/ N9EN50QWrM0 should all be bookmarked for guidance and more information. You can also sign up to weekly tribunal emails from HM Courts and Tribunals Service. I find that you can uncover some real gems of information in these cases. Most just have outcomes and orders, but some do include the tribunal transcripts from which you can see how legislation applies to tribunal claims, and how different pieces of legislation have been interpreted.
LinkedIn. Don’t forget HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in all of this. They run regular webinars on many topics which can be extremely useful for keeping up to date.
Newsletters You can register with a plethora of organisations to receive their free newsletters. Additionally, HMRC publishes bulletins and newsletters and so does TPR, to help you keep on top of legislative changes and amendments to guidance. Signing up to HMRC’s Employer Bulletin and reading those publications in full when they’re made available is strongly recommended. You can sign up and read previous editions here: https://ow.ly/ VpAS50QWrig.
Attending conferences and update days There are various conferences held throughout the year which are dedicated to payroll, and you will find a good variety of topics and speakers to listen to. The CIPP holds special events such as Be Connected sessions and the Annual Conference and Exhibition, which are always great networking opportunities. We know it can be difficult for many payroll professionals to get to conferences and events due to cost and time, but they can be an effective way of hearing about updates in the payroll arena and invaluable in expanding your network. Webinars Sign up to webinars you can join on topics you need to understand or have an interest in. Even if you cannot attend live, recordings are often circulated following the events, so you can save them and watch them later. There are various companies that offer webinars for free, so do keep an eye out for those. There are other events you can attend too, many of which are advertised via
Software providers And don’t forget to see what your
software provider offers in all this. Many of them have blogs, webinars and other educational materials to help you keep up to date. Navigating the minefield Let’s face it, legislation is a minefield. It’s both challenging and interesting but I’m lucky enough that it’s become a passion of mine and my full-time job. I can only say that if it does frighten you, or makes you want to turn away, start at the very beginning and do it in bite sized chunks. You can carve a career specialising in say NMW alone, as mentioned above, or you can gain a more general overview of all the areas payroll legislation covers. And at no point in this article have I ventured into employment law, as this is a whole other world in itself. As we all know, employment law can heavily influence the work payroll professionals carry out, so understanding any changes or updates can also support us in our wonderful careers in payroll. o
“We, as payroll professionals, must understand these types of legislative complexities to succeed in our profession and careers”
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 100 | May 2024
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