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Cost of living crisis – is there a way out for you and your employees?

Cost of living crisis – is there a way out for you and your employees? 1920 1280 Growth Partners

Whether it’s soaring inflation, rising interest rates or changes announced in the Chancellor’s 2022 Autumn Budget, the cost of living crisis is impacting us all and hitting people differently.

Employees on a low income are impacted more as a bigger proportion of their income is eaten up by inflation. Those approaching or thinking about retirement will now need their pension pot to go further, raising questions about whether they can afford to retire or if retirement is sustainable. For others, the cost of servicing debt – be it credit card payments or mortgages – is leaving them with less money each month, forcing individuals to make trade-offs between necessities and savings. 

Furthermore, numerous scholarly articles have proven financial worries can impact employee productivity, mental health, lack of focus at work and absenteeism.

Without the help, and at least some level of guidance from their employers, employees may be likely to believe there are only two possible ways out of this crisis:

  1. Increase in pay in line with inflation –  this is one option to help employees cope, but this is not always possible, and even if it is, companies are unlikely to be able to keep up with rampant inflation. 
  2. Cut back on spending – without a pay increase, employees are likely to resort to cutting back spending and savings including pension contributions, which may impact their retirement lifestyle significantly.

How to support your employees to navigate the cost of living crisis

In some (limited) circumstances, increasing staff pay or cutting spending may well be the only way out of this crisis, but in most other circumstances there are other ways employers can support their workforce to navigate through the cost of living crisis and improve their employees’ financial wellbeing. 

We outline below some of the ways to help your staff improve the way they manage their money:

  • Employee benefits and discount scheme
    Discount schemes help employees save money on the things they want and need to buy. These can really make a difference now that people are seeing increased pressure on their finances. Making purchases via the employee discount scheme can help ease the financial squeeze because of soaring inflation. A recent survey by Opinium found that 36% of UK adults say they are already cutting back on what they spend.
  • Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) 
    This can help employees cope with the pressure that everyday life brings, and prevent personal problems impacting their work performance, health and wellbeing. An EAP can offer employees a wide range of support, including online resources, counselling, and referral services if they are struggling.
  • Pension guidance and awareness
    When times are tough financially, it may be tempting to reduce or stop pension contributions without understanding the long-term implications. In fact, according to research carried out by Barnett Waddingham, 7% of people plan to reduce their workplace pension contributions to keep up with the increased cost of living. This translates to 1.05 million people. Pension is not only one of the biggest perks in the workplace, but also an important, and for many, the only source of income in retirement. Therefore, it’s more important than ever that the benefits of pensions are well communicated to help employees avoid making decisions that they will likely regret later in life.
  • Financial education
    Financial education and guidance in the workplace can make a huge difference, giving employees the opportunity to learn about budgeting, money-saving tips, debt management, retirement planning etc. This can help employees make their money stretch further. Financial guidance can also encompass signposting to external services, for example, budgeting tools are available online such as Money Helper’s budget planner.
  • Salary sacrifice schemes
    Offering employees the option to exchange part of their pre-tax salary for ‘non-cash’ benefits such as childcare vouchers, company car, cycle to work scheme or additional pension contributions, is another way to help employees ease the squeeze on their finances without adding any extra costs to the employer. In fact, like the employees, employers also save money through the scheme by paying lower National Insurance contributions on the reduced employee wages – savings which can also be allocated to other areas of the business. Offering a salary sacrifice scheme is an excellent tool for employers to attract talent to the organisation.

The cost-of-living crisis is expected to be an unwelcome guest in the UK for some time so, supporting employees to build their financial resilience and improve their financial and emotional wellbeing is especially important right now. 

For more information about how we can help you and support your employees navigate through the cost of living crisis, visit our SMART Employment page and read more about supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing.

Amrik Birdi, Pension Consultant at Growth Partners

blankAmrik has a wealth of knowledge in pensions having joined Growth Partners from KPMG where he was responsible for advising companies and trustees on independent DC provider procurement exercises, DC investment strategy review, DC pensions strategy review, automatic enrolment compliance, and meeting ongoing governance requirements. Amrik spent three years before this as a Pensions Guidance Specialist at Pensions Wise helping members understand their pension and retirement options, empowering them to take control of their retirement journey. With a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and Certificate in DC Governance, combined with a Degree in Economics, Amrik is a fully qualified pensions consultant and able to offer strategic support to our clients on their options for workplace pension schemes and auto-enrolment.

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Chancellor’s Autumn Statement 2022: How does it impact pay and pensions?

Chancellor’s Autumn Statement 2022: How does it impact pay and pensions? 1920 1280 Growth Partners

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s 2022 Autumn statement focused on prioritising stability, growth and public services but what does this mean for your employees’ pay and pensions?

The chancellor announced that the tax take from his fiscal statement will increase by just 1% over the next five years, and still ensure the UK maintains the most generous tax-free allowances of any G7 country. The thresholds and allowances previously announced for the highest earners however are set to change.

The chancellor was somewhat muted on the pensions front, with the only mention being the reinstatement of the state pension ‘triple lock’.

What are the key tax changes, what is the ‘triple lock’ and how does it affect the state pension?

How will the tax changes affect employees?

It’s good news in relation to tax bands for low earners – they haven’t been reduced so the income tax personal allowance is frozen at £12,570 until April 2028. Only employees earning more than this will pay tax and, of course, they will only pay tax on anything above £12,570*

*For higher earners, the £12,570 personal allowance will be reduced by £1 for every £2 of ‘adjusted net income’ earned between £100,000 and £125,140, again frozen until 2028.

The basic rate tax band will remain the same until 2028. For higher earning employees, the threshold for the 45% additional rate tax will be cut from £150,000 to £125,140 from April 2023.

Unlike the state pension however, the tax thresholds have not been increased in line with inflation.

What is the triple lock?

Introduced in 2010 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, triple lock guarantees that, each year, the state pension will rise by whichever rate is the highest of either:

  • Average earnings
  • Inflation – as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), or
  • 5%

As an example, if average earnings rose by 3% and inflation rose by 5%, then the state pension would be increased by 5%.

Why was the triple lock system introduced?

The triple lock was introduced to protect pensioners against the impact of inflation on money.

If the state pension didn’t increase at least in line with inflation, then you wouldn’t be able to buy as many goods and services with your pension as you did before.

Why was the triple lock reinstated in the Autumn Budget 2022?

Following the coronavirus pandemic, average wages were rising by over 8%, and sticking with the triple lock rules would have meant the state pension would also need to rise by 8% – an unprecedented increase which the government never saw coming!

As a result, the government announced the suspension of the triple lock for the 2022-23 tax year to ensure fairness between pensioners and taxpayers.

Retention of the triple lock was a Conservative Party manifesto commitment and has been the topic of much debate over affordability recently, however, in his 2022 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor confirmed that the triple lock will be reinstated from April 2023.

This means that, for the 2023-24 tax year, the state pension will rise in line with September’s inflation rate (10.1%) a formula outlined in the state pension triple-lock guarantee. For some people, the state pension will be worth over £10,000 next year!

In conclusion, this may be good news for some employees in relation to their pay and pension but as inflation rises, so does the cost of living. As an employer, it’s important to be aware of the changes and the potential impact on employees, not only financially but emotionally too.

Employees can check their income tax with their Government Gateway ID on the GOV.UK website

Employees can see how much state pension they’ll get and when using the GOV.UK State Pension Forecast

For more information about unburdening your business from payroll and pension compliance visit our SMART Employment page and read more about supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing.

Amrik Birdi, Pension Consultant at Growth Partners

blankAmrik has a wealth of knowledge in pensions having joined Growth Partners from KPMG where he was responsible for advising companies and trustees on independent DC provider procurement exercises, DC investment strategy review, DC pensions strategy review, automatic enrolment compliance, and meeting ongoing governance requirements. Amrik spent three years before this as a Pensions Guidance Specialist at Pensions Wise helping members understand their pension and retirement options, empowering them to take control of their retirement journey. With a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and Certificate in DC Governance, combined with a Degree in Economics, Amrik is a fully qualified pensions consultant and able to offer strategic support to our clients on their options for workplace pension schemes and auto-enrolment.

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National wage increases – what is the financial impact for SMEs?

National wage increases – what is the financial impact for SMEs? 501 360 Growth Partners

On Wednesday 27 October, increases to national living wage and national minimum wage were announced as part of the Budget 2021. The increases affect all businesses in the UK employing lower-paid workers and apprentices. 

 

The announcement comes at a time when inflation is set to rise to 4%, the number of job vacancies hits a record high and the UK unemployment rate sits at 4.5%. 

 

So, what is the impact for SME owners employing workers and what can you do to reduce the financial impact on your business?

 

 

Increase in National Living Wage

The national living wage is the term given to the minimum wage an employer must pay a worker if they’re aged over 23-years-old. Before the budget, national living wage sat at £8.91. The Budget announcement on 27 October set out plans for increasing national living wage from £8.91 to £9.42 on 1 April 2022.

 

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Increase in National Minimum Wage

As part of the Budget, it was also announced that national minimum wage for workers aged 21-22 years old and apprentices will increase. From 1 April 2022, if you employ an apprentice who is aged 16 and over and not in full-time education, you must pay them a minimum of £4.81 an hour – an increase of 51p an hour. If you employ any workers aged 21-22 years old, from April onwards you must pay them a minimum of £9.18 an hour – an increase of 82p per hour. 

 

How will the national wages increase impact SMEs?

A mandatory increase in wages and national insurance contributions will always impact the bottom line for SMEs. Coupled with rising inflation, skills shortages, and challenges in the supply chain at a time when businesses are recovering from a pandemic, these increases in overheads can be hard-hitting. 

 

Changes to national minimum wage and national living wage will not only impact those paid at this rate but may also require pay adjustments to others such as supervisors and managers to ensure pay differentials are not eroded.   

 

This is the perfect time to look at your costs as a business and understand where you can save or where you may not be getting the best value for money. 

 

The cost of payroll is an area of your business where you need to invest carefully – ensure you are working with payroll experts that are fully compliant with HMRC and The Pensions Regulator. Taking shortcuts with payroll and pension processing could lead to heavy fines and more financial pressures on your business. 

 

If the person or company processing your payroll and pensions is found not to be compliant with ever-changing government regulations, you the business owner will be held responsible. 

 

Now is a good time to check your payroll software automatically detects whether someone is due to fall below the minimum wage. This will help you now, but also in years to come as younger workers transition through the various age thresholds. 

Action point:
Look at your payroll and pensions processing costs. How much are you paying each month and what assurances do you have when it comes to compliance? By switching payroll providers, you may be able to save enough to offset the rising salary costs. Take a look at our 6 Things to Consider When Outsourcing your Payroll checklist to help.

 

How do you retain employees to help avoid recruitment costs?

With employment vacancies at a record high, while inflation is rising, it can be a difficult time for employers to retain staff. And once you pay to source good staff and invest time in their training you want to keep them. Not only to keep recruitment costs low but to grow your business too. 

 

Don’t be too concerned if you can’t compete on salary. In a recent survey, CIPD reported 50% of candidates voted organisational values as the most important factor when considering a company to work for. 44% of respondents agreed pay and benefits are the second most important factor, followed by career development opportunities and flexible working. Did you also know, that 88% of millennials will pick culture over a salary when choosing an employer to work for? 

 

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With this in mind, it’s important to consider the other ways you attract and retain staff – think what other benefits you offer to employees which they value highly and keep them engaged. 

Action point: 

Reassess your employee engagement strategy, if you have one. Our five-point plan will help you consider what will drive an uplift in engagement and help keep staff for the long term. 

 

What options do businesses have when costs increase?

If the national wage increase is set to hit your business hard, it might be time to look at your approach to staffing. Can you do more with less? Can you find smarter ways of working? Should you look at cross-training as a way of upskilling current staff instead of employing more? 

 

Did you know there are a range of employment grants available to SMEs which may be worth considering if increasing staffing costs will prove to be an issue?

 

If you employ low-paid workers, you may find the government’s Kick Start Scheme is relevant for your business. The fully-funded scheme is designed to provide meaningful employment opportunities to unemployed 16-24 year-olds and as their employer, 100% of the national minimum wage or living wage is paid for you, as well as associated national insurance contributions and auto-enrolment pension contributions. What’s more, you could even get a grant of up to £1,500 to help with setup and training costs. In return, you offer work placements that are a minimum of 25 hours per week for a six-month period. The scheme closes to new applications on 17 December 2021. However, if your application is accepted you have until 31 March 2022 for the young person to commence their role.

 

Another option to consider is Government-funded apprenticeship schemes, which contrary to popular belief are available to anyone over the age of 16, not just school leavers. Again, funding is available to pay for apprentices and their training – how much is dependent on the size of your company and your annual pay bill. A £2.7bn investment to improve the apprenticeship scheme was announced as part of the Budget 2021 alongside an enhanced recruitment service by May 2022. Find out how much funding your business could be entitled to here. 

 

Action point
Read through our 12 Alternatives to Redundancy to reassure yourself and your senior management team of the different strategies available to mitigate against rising employment costs.

 

Our all-in-one solution

We offer a fully outsourced payroll and pensions service for SMEs – we also take on full responsibility with HMRC and The Pensions Regulator, offering complete peace of mind for your business. In addition, we provide a range of benefits, wellbeing, and employee engagement services to help you look after your valued employees, reduce turnover, and ultimately grow your business. 

Read more about our SMART Employment model here or book a free, no-obligation demo here.

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P6 Tax Code Notice: What employers need to know about an employee’s P6 tax form

P6 Tax Code Notice: What employers need to know about an employee’s P6 tax form 1368 912 Growth Partners

At intervals throughout the year, it may be necessary to change your employee’s tax code, and a P6 tax code notice from HMRC will usually be sent to you when it is time to do this for the individual.

These changes to United Kingdom payroll tax can occur for a variety of reasons, the main ones being:

  • An employee’s tax-free income, or personal allowance, has either increased or decreased
  • A new employee has provided you with a P46 and HMRC inform you of the correct tax code
  • You have sent new tax codes for your employees at the beginning of the tax year

 What is a P6 tax code notice?

Issued by HMRC, a P6 form provides new details of an employee’s tax code to their employer, such as previous pay and tax.

A P6 is a form issued by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to employers to provide details of an employee’s tax code, previous pay, and tax.

Should you receive a P6 tax notice from HMRC, you must check and/or change the respective employee’s tax code and, if applicable, enter previous pay and tax.

How do you get a P6 from HMRC?

P6 tax code notifications are now sent online as opposed to the traditional paper form. This can help employees to keep on top of requests and ensure everything is accessible in one easy place – your HMRC gateway.

Does a P6 override a P45?

In most cases, a P6 form will actually override a P45.

For example, if you take on a new starter who joins without a P45 as they have not yet received it from their previous employer, but they fill in a new starter checklist instead, the P6 will override the P45, even if it eventually becomes available at a later date.

This is because a P6 is issued by HMRC and is therefore considered more up to date and relevant than a late P45.

Do you need help handling your employee tax code changes?

The team at Growth Partners have many years of experience helping businesses to deal with tax code notifications, ensuring all matters are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Simply contact us today to find out more about our services and how we can help you to change your employee’s P6 tax code as per HMRC requests.

Hand Placing Payroll Lettering on Wooden Background
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13 of our most commonly asked payroll questions: answered

13 of our most commonly asked payroll questions: answered 1413 886 Growth Partners

The world of HR and payroll continually changes, leaving many business owners with a multitude of questions.

Luckily, as experts in all things payroll, we’ve answered some of our most commonly asked questions, hopefully shining a light on any issues you may be facing yourself with your own managed payroll.

  1. What form do I need to complete if we stop SSP, but the employee is still off sick?

If you stop SSP when an employee is still off sick, you should complete an SSP1 form and send it to the employee. This will help them claim employment and support allowance.

  1. What is classed as a linked period of sickness?

A linked period of sickness is when an employee has regular periods of sickness that last four or more days each, separated by less than eight weeks, which have lasted for longer than three years. In this case, SSP will stop.

  1. When can I stop paying SSP? 

The maximum amount of SSP is 28 weeks. Additionally, If an employee has had continuous series of linked sickness that has gone on for more than three years, you no longer have to pay them SSP.

  1. What should I do when an employee’s tax code is wrong?

Usually, for new employees, if they haven’t completed a new starter checklist, their tax code will be wrong.  The new starter checklist is a HMRC form which all employees should complete on their first day of employment.

  1. My employee insists they have paid too much in deductions – what do I do?

Many employees don’t fully understand the payroll legislation for both Tax and NI and when this becomes payable. It is your responsibility to explain the process to them and clearly show them that they have in fact paid the correct amount in deductions.

We provide our clients’ employees with a dedicated customer service team to help explain all pay documents and any deductions over live chat, email or phone.

  1. Why has an employee not been enrolled into the pension automatically? 

Auto-enrolment is based on age and earnings. All employees are automatically enrolled after the 3-month postponement period if they meet the qualifying criteria (age 22 and earn over £10000).

  1. How do I opt an employee out of the pension scheme?  

Under The Pensions Regulator rules, it is up to the employee to complete an opt-out form which they must get directly from the pension provider. You cannot opt an employee out on their behalf.

Please note, rules around SSP and payroll are different for some workers, so you should always refer to the latest advice on GOV.UK.

Transferring your payroll 

  1. Does a transfer of payroll providers need to take place at the start of a tax year?

No, you can transfer payroll providers at any time without any disruption to payroll.  However, depending on who you choose to outsource payroll to, it may cost you more if you choose not to transfer at the start of the tax year. This is because some payroll providers will be required to recreate your whole payroll since the start of the tax year. This will take time and therefore increase your costs.

You can outsource your payroll to Growth Partners at any time of year without disruption to payroll and without any set up costs.

  1. What is a Real Time Information Pay ID?

The RTI Pay ID captures your company’s employee reference. You enter this when you set up a new employee on your payroll. The Full Payment Submission (FPS) must be sent on or before payday and an Employers Payment Summary (EPS) must be submitted by the 19th of the following month to avoid fines from HMRC.

  1. What’s involved in transferring payroll providers?

If you transfer payroll providers at the start of the tax year, employers need to send the new payroll provider a list of all current employee data along with salary details. If you transfer providers at any other time, your payroll provider will require a lot more data from you regarding previous salary payments.

However, you can transfer payroll to Growth Partners as part of SMART Employment model at any time with minimal data.

  1. What’s involved in transferring payroll providers to a PEO model? 

When you are transferring payroll providers and the HMRC liabilities as part of the PEO model, you need to send the new payroll provider a complete list of all current employee data, along with salary details. You also need to ensure employees are set to ‘leavers’ in the old payroll and produce a P45 for each of them. The P45s are not sent out to employees – they are sent to the new payroll provider only.

  1. How long does it take to transfer payroll providers?  

Depending on the size of the business and the complexity of the payroll, it can take between one to two weeks for small to medium businesses, and up to four to six weeks for larger businesses.  Some payroll providers may require longer than this – particularly if you wish to transfer your payroll midway through a tax year.

  1. Do I need to contact HMRC if I change payroll providers?

You do not usually need to contact HMRC if you change payroll providers. However, if you wish to outsource your payroll to specialists like Growth Partners who take on the HMRC responsibilities for you, then you will need to complete a year-end submission.

The year-end submission will confirm to HMRC that you have closed your old PAYE. This is usually done via an EPS submission once you have processed your final payroll. You will also need to confirm the cessation date on the submission.

Payroll business solutions

When you’re investing time into running your successful business, it can become difficult to keep on top of everything. By outsourcing your payroll, you can reduce your costs and save essential business time, allowing you to focus on areas that are important to contributing towards your continued growth.

Contact the team at Growth Partners today to find out more about our all-in-one solution for payroll, pensions, and employee engagement services.

Outsourcing payroll
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6 things to consider when researching outsourced payroll providers

6 things to consider when researching outsourced payroll providers 1280 729 Growth Partners

Whether you’re considering outsourcing your company’s payroll for the first time or looking to switch outsourced payroll providers, it’s important to do your research regarding how to outsource payroll.

A recent YouGov study reported a quarter of businesses believe managing payroll requires too much of their time and affects their overall business performance.

If you’re looking to grow your business, outsourcing your payroll is a great step towards unburdening yourself from the administrative headache of keeping up with legislative changes and the expectation that you have all the answers to your employees’ payroll and pension queries.

Should I outsource payroll?

Outsourced payroll providers can also save you money and minimise the risk to your business if you choose the right provider.

In this post, we’ll discuss six important things to consider when finding out how to outsource payroll:

1. Choose a specialist outsourced payroll provider

There are so many payroll providers to choose from – from specialist outsourced payroll providers and payroll companies to HR companies and accountants.

The accountancy firm that you use for your accounts may be great at accounts, but are they specialists in payroll? If you’re using your accountant for payroll administration or are considering doing so, ask them about their expertise in payroll. Chances are, they might not actually enjoy payroll processing and may prefer to focus on your accounts, which is where their specialism lies. Some accountancy firms will actually outsource your payroll to a payroll specialist, so this is also something to consider.

2. Check the outsourced payroll provider is fully compliant with HMRC and The Pensions Regulator

Payroll compliance can be a headache if you’re not a specialist in this area. To comply with Government regulations, you must make accurate payments and deductions, provide employees with detailed payslips, file and pay all taxes on time, pay deductions such as pension payments to the right places and keep hold of records for a minimum of three years.

Pension compliance can also be difficult to keep on top of. Under the Pensions Act 2008, you must put staff into a workplace pension scheme and contribute towards it. Pension auto-enrolment is an important thing to get right, as is pension re-enrolment. Check with the UK outsourced payroll provider whether they will handle all the administration of this for you.

How do you know how your chosen pension fund is performing; when was the last time you reviewed the performance of your pension auto-enrolment fund?

3. Ensure transparency

Outsourcing your payroll is not a decision to take lightly – after all, you’re talking about the hard-earned wages of your employees. A seamless transition is best for both you and your employees, so look for a specialist provider who can handle the transition expertly and efficiently.

Ask to see the full process from end-to-end, ask to see their security credentials and how they keep your data safe and check how they’re set up to handle any significant changes to payroll, such as the job retention scheme. These are all things which YOU will be liable for if THEY get wrong, so it’s best to check these from the outset.

4. How much input will be required from your finance team?

Unburdening your finance team is a great reason to outsource your payroll. Finance managers are a fantastic asset, and freeing up their time is a win for small businesses. Payroll and pension administration is process heavy and takes a lot of time and accuracy – take the headache away from them, and they will be available to help you grow your business.

Using specialist outsourced payroll providers may also reduce the number of staff you need to recruit to your finance team to administer payroll and pension payments, therefore helping to reduce your fixed costs. A fully outsourced specialist payroll provider will also take care of the administration of new starters and leavers.

The main thing to make sure of here is that you outsource to a specialist who requires minimal interventions from your finance team – otherwise, you could end up giving your finance team an even bigger headache.

5. What do you get for your money?

You will find most payroll providers charge a set amount per employee to administer payroll, but check what added value you get.

  • Do they provide any other services for your employees?
  • Do they provide online 24/7 access to pay documents via an app?
  • Do they provide UK-based customer service support to answer your employees’ payroll issues?
  • Are they GDPR compliant?

These are important questions to ask to help you choose the best value payroll provider for you.

6. Will outsourced payroll providers give you peace of mind?

Check if compliance with HMRC and The Pensions Regulator still sits with you. If it does, you may be reducing your fixed costs and saving some money, but you may not feel you have complete peace of mind.

If the compliance still sits with you, this means the payroll providers will administer a company’s payroll and pensions, but ultimately the company directors are still responsible for the payroll providers’ actions and any compliance issues.

Our payroll and pension services

We’re proud to offer a fully outsourced specialist payroll and pension service with the following benefits:

As payroll specialists, we deliver our payroll and pension solutions as part of the SMART Employment model, which costs as little as 30p per day. SMART Employers have more time to focus on business growth, experience increased profitability through reduced costs, increased performance, and have complete peace of mind for themselves and their employees.

If you’d like to know more about outsourced payroll through our SMART Employment model, contact us for a free, no-obligation demonstration of the process and our added value services with one of our payroll and pension consultants.

What are the ir35 tax changes
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What are the IR35 tax changes and how do they apply to you?

What are the IR35 tax changes and how do they apply to you? 1340 1006 Growth Partners

The rules around IR35 and off-payroll working are changing, and from 6 April 2021, the new tax changes will come into force for the private sector. In this post, we discuss what’s changing, for who, and what the options are if you think you could be affected.

What are the IR35 tax changes?

From 6 April 2021, all private sector companies employing off-payroll staff – usually referred to as contractors – may have to take them on as an employee. If the employer dictates their terms, they can no longer be treated as contractors – they must, by law, be treated as employees.

Private sector companies receiving the services of a contractor will be responsible for deciding on the workers’ employment status.

The new rules make sure that all workers, who would have been an employee if they were providing their services directly to the client, pay broadly the same tax and National Insurance contributions as employees. These rules are sometimes known as ‘IR35’. The changes are all about making sure you have consistency in how you treat employees.

Who is affected by the IR35 tax changes?

The IR35 tax changes – also known as changes to off-payroll working rules – may affect any company receiving services from a worker who isn’t on their payroll. In most cases, these are companies that work with contractors. It could also be any worker who provides their service to a company through their own limited company or another type of intermediary such as:

  • a partnership
  • a personal service company
  • an individual

The company receiving the service is responsible for determining if the changes apply to them, rather than the worker providing the service.

You can use the gov.uk employment status for tax tool to help you determine any workers’ employment status.

What are your options?

  1. Do nothing

HMRC published a statement about supporting companies through this change and explained a ‘light touch’ approach to penalties will be taken in the first 12 months, unless there is evidence of deliberate non-compliance.

  1. Take the workers on as staff

Onboard these employees the way you would any new starter and include them in everything you do for your existing staff. This means a contract of employment agreeing pay, auto-enrolment pension, sick leave entitlement and the ability to accrue holiday leave and pay.

  1. Get business support from payroll and pension experts

You can outsource these responsibilities and the compliance that comes with it to a specialist payroll and pensions expert. You can do this just for the contractors or for all your staff.

How we can help

The change is coming, and we can help.

As payroll and pensions experts, we can advise you on your situation and the options available to you. Through our services, we can help process the increase in employees you are likely to have on your payroll and look after all of their needs. This means taking on the HMRC responsibilities – leaving you to focus on growing your business.

Through our SMART Employment model, we can also provide your new employees with the same range of benefits as other employees – making it clear your company is treating the new workers the same.

If your business is affected, contact us for a chat about your options or arrange a free, no-obligation consultation.

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