Pay
OTS announces share schemes review
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) will investigate share schemes as part of its continuing work to simplify the UK tax system.: Exchequer secretary David Gauke confirmed the decision last month, after Rt Hon Michael Jack, chair of the OTS, expressed his desire to pursue the matter.
Mon, 1 Aug 2011 • Read more
Cuts to HMRC will increase NMW evasion, says AM
Further cuts to HMRC could lead to more employers flouting National Minimum Wage (NMW) laws, warns a Welsh Assembly member.: Leanne Wood, AM for South Wales Central, made the comments after releasing figures showing more than 1,000 employers had not paid workers in Wales the NMW since 2002, and none had been prosecuted.
Mon, 1 Aug 2011 • Read more
Pay day lending code launch meets with condemnation
The Consumer Finance Association (CFA) launched its pay day lending code at the Houses of Parliament last month. The event was attended by Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, who has campaigned against some of the practices undertaken by the industry. She attacked the code during the event, saying it is ‘not good enough’.: Creasy told Payroll World she was concerned that neither the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) nor the consumer body Consumer Focus had attended the event. ‘My concern is that we are not at a starting point without CAB.’
Mon, 1 Aug 2011 • Read more
Commons rejects opt-out for minimum wage rates
The House of Commons has rejected a proposal by a Conservative MP to introduce opt-outs to the minimum wage.: Backbencher Christopher Chope favours the right of individuals to negotiate a lower rate. He argued this could help people gain employment experience and would acknowledge wide disparities in pay levels between wealthy areas such as London and other regions.
Fri, 1 Jul 2011 • Read more
RBS staff sell shares
More than half of employee shares awarded at The Royal Bank of Scotland were sold immediately last month, prompting fears of a lack of confidence in the part-nationalised bank.: The development raises questions over whether share-based remuneration motivates employees when a company’s future is uncertain.
Fri, 1 Jul 2011 • Read more
NHS set to create national reward structure
The National Health Service (NHS) is creating a national reward structure to replace the current system of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) offering local packages.: NHS Employers, which represents employers, has begun information gathering to establish what the scheme could offer to encourage staff retention in the current climate of pay cuts and proposed changes to the NHS Pension Scheme.
Fri, 1 Jul 2011 • Read more
Academies provoke jobs shift in payroll to private suppliers
The payroll sector could witness a shift in job concentration from local authorities towards private suppliers as schools convert to academies, a payroll provider has claimed.: Bishop Fleming, a payroll provider, said it had seen a rise in the number of academies seeking to become clients. With appointments to 50 academies so far, of which 12 opted for payroll services, it said academies could afford to choose private payroll if unsatisfied with local authority services.
Fri, 1 Jul 2011 • Read more
London living wage increases
The Greater London Authority has announced the largest increase to the London Living Wage since its introduction in 2005.: Some 3,000 Londoners earn the new wage of £8.30 per hour – a 5.7% increase on last year’s rate of £7.85.
Wed, 1 Jun 2011 • Read more
NHS top managers deny pay surpasses guidance
NHS trusts have denied breaching pay rates for senior managers after research claimed they had trebled a maximum increase allowance.: Last month, Incomes Data Services said the basic salary for non-medical CEOs rose by an average 4.5% last year to more than £150,000 – way above a 1.5% Department of Health pay guidance.
Wed, 1 Jun 2011 • Read more
Lawyer slams ‘cosmetic’ equal pay audit proposals
Equal pay audit legislation proposed by the Government is unlikely to improve the pay gap between men and women and could potentially lead to more out of court settlements, an employment lawyer has claimed.: The proposed requirement for employers to conduct pay audits if they are found guilty of discriminating on pay in an employment tribunal is included in the Government’s current consultation on flexible working. The consultation was launched last month by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills.
Wed, 1 Jun 2011 • Read more
MP calls for payday loan regulation
The Government has come under fire for failing to support proposals to regulate payday lenders. Writing on The Guardian’s Comment is Free website, Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, warned: ‘The Government’s failure to support proposals on regulating legal loan sharks will see more people trapped in a cycle of debt.’: A cross-party group of MPs have secured a vote on introducing caps on the total cost of credit for the British consumer. Despite support from a wide range of groups including charities, religious groups and Lib Dem and Tory backbench MPs, the Government has refused to show its support. Creasy wrote: ‘So far the Government has refused to support our proposals, seemingly because of a knee-jerk reaction against regulation. They’ve already agreed to regulate some parts of the market. The coalition agreement promises action on excessive interest rates for store and credit cards.’
Tue, 1 Mar 2011 • Read more
Controversy ongoing, despite Capita’s freeze on exec pay
Public sector outsourcing specialist Capita has frozen the base salaries of senior managers and played down any hopes of significant pay rises for its 37,000 staff. However, bonuses and stock options continue to boost earnings among bosses.: The base salary for Paul Pindar, chief executive of the group, whose services include payroll bureaux, was frozen at £375,000. However, performance-related bonuses boosted his total remuneration by 17% to £901,360. He also exercised options worth £479,565 and £343,572, the Financial Times reported.
Tue, 1 Mar 2011 • Read more
Aer Lingus removes staff from payroll
Some 44 Aer Lingus cabin crew have been taken off the airline’s payroll, following a dispute over the company’s rota plan.: Staff were warned that those who persistently refuse to co-operate with the new rotas would be sent home and removed from the payroll.
Wed, 2 Feb 2011 • Read more
CIPD issues pay review guide
Organisations must consider the annual pay review as more than just a ‘tick-box HR process’, warns the author of a new guide published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).: Launched last month, The Pay Review Process is the result of research conducted by the institute and compiled by Charles Cotton, CIPD adviser for performance and reward. Its conclusions are drawn from in-depth interviews with 16 public, private and voluntary sector organisations, including the John Lewis Partnership, Oxfam and Transport for London.
Wed, 2 Feb 2011 • Read more
NHS unions fight pay freeze
Trade unions have rejected plans to freeze NHS staff increment payments for two years, but NHS Employers says the proposal remains.: Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association (BMA) all refuse to back the plans, which would affect both clinical and non-clinical staff earning up to £34,000 – more than 80% of the NHS workforce.
Wed, 2 Feb 2011 • Read more
HMRC in clergy pay debacle
Some 7,500 members of the clergy have been issued incorrect tax codes by HM Revenue & Customs, putting thousands at risk of overtaxation in their first pay cheques of 2011.: The issue arose following the cutbacks to the Church of England’s dedicated Revenue unit in September 2010, sparking concerns among church employees that the department is failing to process the clergy’s complex payroll. However, Payroll World investigations have revealed the Revenue is denying both abolishing the clergy team housed at Bradford and being responsible for the blunder.
Wed, 2 Feb 2011 • Read more
Royal Wedding holiday entitlement not mandatory
Employers are being advised to clarify their annual leave policies before staff assume they can take off this year’s royal wedding bank holiday.: Last November, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that 29 April 2011 would be an additional public holiday, so the nation could celebrate the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. But according to European Working Time Regulations, extra holidays are awarded at employers’ discretion. Legally, full-time workers have paid annual leave entitlement of 26 days plus eight bank and public holidays, but extra days depend on the wording of individual contracts. Only employees whose contracts state they are entitled to leave on all bank and public holidays can automatically stay at home.
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 • Read more
Gender pay audits abolished
Companies will not be obliged to disclose pay gaps between male and female employees, following an announcement made last December by equalities minister Lynne Featherstone.: Instead, the Government will work with businesses to encourage voluntary publication of equality workforce data. ‘Right at this moment of financial peril to the nation is perhaps not the moment to introduce mandatory pay audits,’ said Featherstone.
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 • Read more
IPP gets Chartered Status
The Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP) has announced that the Privy Council has this week granted the IPP a Royal Charter, meaning that the IPP will become the CIPP (Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals) on 1 January 2011.: The Institute has been striving towards attaining Chartered Status for a number of years to ensure that professionals working in the payroll industry receive full recognition.
Thu, 11 Nov 2010 • Read more
Nine out of ten say no to PAYE change
Around 90% of submissions to HM Revenue & Customs on centralising and automating the PAYE system are negative, Phil Nilson of the Revenue’s Employer Programme told the autumn Payroll World conference last month. He indicated that much of the concern came from larger organisations. ‘The smaller company may think that this would remove a burden.’ He stressed that ‘this is a discussion document, not a consultation – it’s not a done deal.’: The planned move to Centralised Deductions – in which the gross-to-net calculations would be moved from the employer to a central HMRC-run service – would be the biggest upheaval of the PAYE system since it was introduced in 1944. Concerns have focused on the clarity of the division between the employer’s and Revenue’s responsibilities and the capability of the Revenue to handle such a major project.
Thu, 4 Nov 2010 • Read more
