Payroll news
Workplace pensions statistics THE LATEST release of Employee workplace pensions in the UK (http:// bit.ly/2Jb8GCy) by the Office of National Statistics, compiled from data in its Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings , provides information about membership and contributions. The main points are: l 76% of UK employees were members of a workplace pension scheme in 2018, up from 73% in 2017; this is a 29 percentage points increase compared with 2012, when automatic enrolment was introduced l 90% of public sector and 72% of private sector employees were participating in an occupational pension in 2018 with the gap between these sectors narrowing l employees aged outside automatic enrolment age eligibility (less than 22 years or over state pension age) had low proportions of workplace pension participation (35% or less), whereas approximately 80% of employees within the age boundary criteria were members of their workplace pension scheme l private sector employers with 1 to 99 employees had the largest growth in workplace pension membership between 2017 and 2018, from 51% to 62%; however, this group still had the lowest rate across the public and private sectors. l the proportion of defined contribution scheme members contributing between 2% and 3% of their earnings rose to 38% in 2018, up from 6% in 2017, while the share contributing less than 2% fell l 85% of defined benefit pension members received employer contributions equivalent to 12% or more of their earnings in 2018, while just 8% of defined contribution members received employer contributions of this size.
Money laundering fees THE FEES payable to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) when registering for anti-money laundering supervision have increased from 1 May 2019, as follows: l a one-off application charge – £100 l a registration fee for each premises – £300 l a fit and proper test fee (for money service businesses or trust or company service providers) for each person tested – £150 l an approval process fee (for accountancy service providers, estate agency businesses, or high value dealers) for each person tested – £40. After 1 May 2019, those with business turnover less than £5,000 can apply for a ‘small business’ reduction. HMRC aims to process refunds within 30 days of application or renewal being approved and receipt of the required information. Further information (e.g. application information) can be found here: http://bit.ly/2VnGIKo. The equal pay arrears arising from outstanding claims at time of transfer, were held to be ‘arrears of pay’ within the meaning of section 184(1) of the Act, and therefore a debt within section 182. NMWcompliance THE LOW Pay Commission’s Non-compliance and enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (http://bit.ly/2Jeigog) sets out recommendations focusing primarily on the communications challenge, which is critical in ensuring the enforcement system protects workers (e.g. getting the guidance to employers right, and the restarting of regular naming rounds). Equal pay and insolvency THE COURT of Appeal has held, in the case Graysons Restaurants Ltd v Jones, that the amount which arises under a claim for equal pay which had not been quantified when the employer became insolvent, constitutes arrears of pay payable under provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (‘the Act’). Administrators sold assets of Duchy Catering Limited, which had entered administration, to Graysons Restaurants. The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 (SI 1981/1794) (‘the Regulations’) applied. Under the Regulations, liability for unpaid sums due to employees from an insolvent transferor do not transfer to the transferee, provided these are sums reimbursable by the Secretary of State as identified by the relevant statutory schemes as prescribed in the Act, and include up to eight weeks’ arrears of wages.
Proportion of employees with workplace pensions: by type of pension, UK, 1997 to 2018
Diary dates
5 June 6 June
Last day of tax month 2
First day of tax month 3
Last day for submitting a real time information employer payment summary to apply to tax month 2
19 June
Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by non-electronic method Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by electronic method
22 June
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | June 2019 | Issue 51 20
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