The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
News On Line
With many factors linked to the current bank rate we will need to see how the proverbial dust settles and if this change will impact the inflation crisis currently gripping the nation.
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Two directors banned for abusing Bounce Back Loan scheme 26 January 2022 Two directors have been banned from further directorships for 10 and 11 years because of coronavirus support scheme abuse. Does the press release from The Insolvency Service indicate a scaling up of compliance action for fraud carried out under these schemes? Both companies provided inflated estimates of their annual turnover, therefore awarding them to Bounce Back Loans (BBLs) of higher amounts than they would otherwise receive. The actual earnings of the first company would have been below the £8000 per year turnover threshold to be eligible for the loan. Following the payment of the BBLs payments began to various individuals of £2,000 per month, one of these individuals was a director’s relative. The directors claimed these were genuine business expenses, but no evidence was provided to back up these claims.
The chief investigator, Mike Smith, at The Insolvency Service said:
“Government loan schemes have provided a lifeline to millions of businesses across the UK – preserving their existence during the pandemic and protecting millions of jobs. As these cases show, The Insolvency Service will not hesitate to investigate and use its powers against those who appear to have abused the COVID- 19 support schemes.”
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Significant decision on historic holiday pay claims 09 February 2022
A court of appeal judgement confirms that a worker’s entitlement to hol iday pay, where leave is taken but not paid, can be carried over to future leave years.
Mr Smith was found to be a worker at Pimlico Plumbers by the supreme court in 2018. A worker is legally entitled to paid holiday, so as a result of this judgment Smith proceeded with his holiday pay claim. At the employment tribunal (ET) and employment appeal tribunal (EAT), Smith’s claim was dismissed because it was out of time. It had not been brought within three months of the most recent incorrect payment. The court of appeal (COA) disagreed. The court confirmed that both the ET and EAT had wrongly interpreted the European Court of Justice decision in King v The Sash Windows Workshop Limited. This case confirmed that where workers are denied their right to paid annual leave, the entitlement carries over indefinitely. In Smith’s case, he had taken leave, but had not been paid.
The COA said that an employer can only meet the burden of showing that it gave the worker the opportunity to take paid annual leave if it:
• encouraged the worker to take paid annual leave, and; • informed the worker that the right would be lost at the end of the leave year
The judgement also casts doubt on the ‘series of deductions’ rule from the EAT decision in the Bear Scotland case. The rule states that where there is a gap of more than three months between the unlawful deduction (or underpayment) and the claim, the claim is out of time.
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