Payroll news
Expansion of the scope of the exclusivity clause ban ON 9 MAY 2022, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy unveiled its plans to widen the scope of the exclusivity clause ban. Any contracts that have a guaranteed weekly income at or below the lower earnings limit (£123 a week for tax year 2022/23), will be included in the ban. The ban was introduced in 2015 and only covers workers on zero-hour contracts at present. The government consulted on this area in December 2020, and has concluded, in its response, that an extension should be implemented. It’s hoped the reforms will be laid before Parliament later in the year. The changes should give increased flexibility to those who receive lower wages, without them having to worry about the risk of dismissal for having more than one job. The associated press release can be found here: http://ow.ly/92Rk30sjPQO, and the consultation and government response are available here: http://ow.ly/rv7j30sjPQT.
A new Bill to ensure seafarers are paid fairly ALSO ANNOUNCED in the Queen’s speech was the Harbours (Seafarers’ Remuneration) Bill, which will aim to protect seafarers by ensuring they receive minimum wage while in UK waters. It will also give powers to ports to refuse ferry services who don’t pay the equivalent to the UK national minimum wage (NMW). This will deter other organisations from carrying out actions similar to P&O Ferries by closing legislative loopholes used by some ferry companies who operate regularly in and out of UK ports, and don’t pay their seafarers at least the NMW. A consultation which requested opinions on the scope and extent of the legislation that should be applied ran through May and into the start of June. It can be accessed here: http://ow.ly/ jxJh30sjPL7. Data Reform Bill to shake up general data protection regulation (GDPR) PRINCE CHARLES delivered the Queen’s speech on 10 May 2022. This provided an insight into the UK government’s upcoming proposed policies and legislation. In the accompanying documents, there’s reference to a Data Reform Bill, which will aim to replace the current GDPR in the UK. The documents state: ‘The United Kingdom’s data protection regime will be reformed.’ Access the details in full here: http://ow.ly/kUrr30skzzI. For many payroll teams, GDPR impacts on their day-to-day processes, so changes in this area could have a massive impact on the work they carry out. We’re awaiting the government response to its consultation, which asked for thoughts on how a new data protection regime could support the economy, maintain high standards and innovate businesses, large and small, across the UK. The original consultation can be located here: http://ow.ly/ tFg930sjPHG.
New ‘fraud squad’ formed to tackle coronavirus scheme fraud CHANCELLOR OF the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has revealed that a new £25 million ‘fraud squad’ will be established. This is to tackle widespread fraud across the range of schemes that were launched to help individuals and organisations through the economic struggle caused by the pandemic. The new body will recruit top economic crime investigators and data analytic experts. The team will have the power to recover any funds claimed fraudulently from Covid support schemes. It will also search for suspicious companies and people seeking government contracts. Read the full news story here: http:// ow.ly/6GA030sjPYL.
Diary dates
5 July
Last day of tax month 3
6 July
First day of tax month 4
19 June (this is a weekend date)
Last day for submitting a real time information employer payment summary to apply to tax month 2 Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by non-electronic method
22 June
Deadline for payment of PAYE and NICs etc to HMRC’s Accounts Office by electronic method
5 August
Last day of tax month 4
6 August
First day of tax month 5
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | June 2022 | Issue 81 42
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