The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals ……………………………………………………………Policy News Journal
Agricultural Wages in Scotland 22 September 2016
The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) has confirmed that they will not be changing their rates from 1 October 2016. In order to align the dates with changes to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, any updates will come into effect from 1 April 2017. With effect from 1 October 2016, the UK Government will introduce amendments to the rates detailed in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for workers aged up to and including 24 years of age. The hourly rate for the National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 25 and over will remain at £7.20 per hour as set on 1 April 2016. The NMW and the Agricultural Wages Order in Scotland have historically been updated with effect from 1 October each year. However with the introduction of the NLW, which runs on a different calendar cycle, the UK Government has decided to change the NMW timeframe in order to align with the revised timeframe of the NLW. This means that the NMW update for October 2016 will run for 6 months before requiring revision on 1 April 2017 along with revised rates for the NLW. In order to match the calendar for the NMW, the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board has decided to delay its annual wages negotiations until later in the year so that Order 64 is introduced with effect from 1 April 2017. This will ensure that the Order is in alignment with the NMW and NLW. Order 63 will therefore remain in force until 1 April 2017. In terms of NMW / NLW compliance employers will need to ensure that they comply with the appropriate UK legislation during the intervening period. Where the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage become higher than the hourly or other minimum rate of pay prescribed under Wages Order 63, the Board is taken to have made an Order fixing minimum rates equal to the NMW and the NLW. Where these circumstances apply, employers affected by the Order will be required to pay minimum rates of pay equal to the NMW and the NLW in respect of any period beginning at or after the time when the NMW and NLW become higher than the minimum rates under this Order.
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Reforms to public sector exit payments: Government Response to consultation 27 September 2016
The government has published its response to the consultation about reforms to public sector exit payments.
The stated aim of these reforms is to make public sector exit terms fairer, more modern and more consistent. Approximately 350 responses were received to the consultation and included responses from unions; public sector employers and employer organisations as well as public sector workers and others responding in an individual capacity. The majority of responses expressed opposition to the government’s proposals. A small number of responses supported the principles of the government’s proposed reforms and some or all of the specific proposals. The government had previously committed to introducing two other measures on public sector compensation: a cap on all public sector exit payments at £95,000; and a ‘clawback’ of redundancy compensation when a highly-paid individual returns to the public sector shortly after receiving an exit payment. The exit payment framework further includes: a maximum tariff for calculating exit payments of three weeks’ pay per year of service a ceiling of 15 months on the maximum number of months’ salary that can be paid as a redundancy payment a maximum salary of £80,000 on which an exit payment can be based a taper on the amount of lump sum compensation an individual is entitled to receive as they get closer to their normal pension retirement age action to limit or end employer-funded early access to pension as an exit term
Full details on the policy and the government’s process for reform are in the response to the consultation.
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The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
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