Hi! If you're new here, you might want to register for free email updates. Just use the form at the top of the sidebar. Thanks for visiting The Payroll Blog!

Also on 8 March 2010, the EU Council adopted its first-reading position on a draft Directive aimed at improving the social protection of self-employed workers, with a view to removing disincentives to female entrepreneurship.  It also seeks to improve the social protection of “assisting spouses”, who often work in the self-employed sector without enjoying the corresponding rights.

Continue reading


By means of the Taxation of Pensions Schemes (Rates, etc) Order 2010, the Government has increased the rate of two tax charges applicable to pension schemes.

Continue reading


Our recent review was unable to confirm the date when the new “fit notes” will come into use in Northern Ireland.  The necessary Regulations were made on 1 March 2010 and come into force, as in the rest of the UK, from 6 April 2010.

Continue reading


In January, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed that the replacement medical statement, known as the “Statement of Fitness for Work” and now commonly nicknamed the “fit note” to distinguish its use from the “sick note”, will come into use from 6 April 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales.  It will also be used in Northern Ireland but the effective date is yet to be confirmed.

Continue reading


Alongside the 2009 Pre-Budget Report, the Government announced that it intended to address the problem of potentially exploitative arrangements that are implemented for some temporary workers paid at or near the National Minimum Wage (NMW).  HM Treasury has now published a consultation document, entitled National Minimum Wage workers: Travel and subsistence expenses schemes, which explains the means by which it is proposed that NMW workers should be protected.

Continue reading


When the Government’s pension reforms are introduced from October 2012, all qualifying employees will have to be enrolled automatically into a qualifying pension scheme.  Employers will be able to continue to use their existing pension schemes to meet their new statutory obligations if those schemes meet the minimum statutory requirements, which include the ability to handle automatic enrolment and to make the minimum employer/employee contributions.

Continue reading


In May 2009, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published a consultation document with proposals to replace the current “sick note” issued by doctors with a new Medical Statement.

Continue reading


Pension scheme trustees may continue to use the pensions earnings cap, which officially ceased to exist from 6 April 2006, for the purpose of restricting pension payments from a registered pension scheme for a transitional period. The transitional period ends on the earlier of
Continue reading


In a detailed Green Paper published in January by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Government announced that further changes to family employment rights are under consideration in the following three areas: Continue reading


The right to additional paternity leave and pay will be introduced from April 2011 (although some employees gain entitlement before that date).  Following a third consultation period in late 2009, the Government has now published the final Regulations in draft.  They are expected to come into force from 6 April 2010, providing up to a year for employers to prepare.

Continue reading