Up in the Clouds
As anyone who has watched a thunderstorm will know, clouds can be powerful and fascinating phenomena. The term cloud, when applied to computing, shrouds a useful idea in an unnecessary air of mystery.
Why is Opting Staff out of a Pension like Hacking the CIA Chief?
Until recently, there wasn’t any apparent connection between an employer’s automatic enrolment duties and hacking, but this changed earlier this month, when The Pensions Regulator announced that it was to prosecute a recruitment company, Workchain Ltd, and seven related individuals. The regulator has a statutory objective to maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment and it uses a range of tactics to achieve this. In this case, it employed a new tactic, which involved using legislation that had no direct connection with pensions whatsoever – namely, the Computer Misuse Act, 1990. Read more “Why is Opting Staff out of a Pension like Hacking the CIA Chief?”
The Payroll Apprenticeship
We have a terrific skills and resource crisis in the payroll profession just around the corner. Not enough people are coming into the profession, and payroll training does not always equip existing staff with the relevant skills. Whilst they have always been a route into a career or used for career changes, apprenticeships have achieved a higher profile in recent months and years. Read more “The Payroll Apprenticeship”
A Criminal Declaration
Back in June, I explained that entering false information on The Pension Regulator’s declaration of compliance is a criminal offence, albeit one which hadn’t as yet seen any prosecutions. However, on 7th March 2018, Crest Healthcare and a related individual pleaded guilty in the first prosecution of its kind.
Farewell, Government Gateway
The Government Gateway is a collection of computers which work together in order to accept electronic submissions on behalf of HMRC and other government departments.
It was launched in 2001, and our system has been sending payroll returns to the gateway since 2005, starting with the old year end forms P14 and P35. The format of the submissions has changed many times over the years and, since 2013, it has been in the form of Real Time Information (RTI). After nearly 17 years of service, it will soon be time for the Government Gateway to retire. According to HMRC’s plan, the gateway will stop accepting RTI submissions on the 14th February, 2018.
Every Cloud Has a Silicon Lining
You may have read recently about some security flaws, named Meltdown and Spectre, present in the design of the silicon chips in many servers, office computers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices.
The Small Business Niche
Large businesses dominate our conversations. Their brands are everywhere we look, in advertising and in the news. It is easy to overlook, however, the fact that large businesses, with 250 or more employees, make up a tiny proportion of the businesses in the UK.
RTI Post-Implementation Review
Nearly all employers now report their payroll information to HMRC via Real Time Information (RTI). The introduction of RTI is widely acknowledged to be the biggest change to PAYE since 1944. Most employers started reporting via RTI in 2013 and HMRC has since conducted a post-implementation review. The resulting report was published last week and this shows what went well, and also what didn’t go so well. It explains the ways in which government departments use the information that RTI gives them, and how it may be employed in the future.
Payroll Changes in the Autumn Budget
Last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, delivered his Autumn Budget speech. From a payroll perspective, there were no big surprises.
Bus Company in Deep Water over Pensions
The Pensions Regulator and the Department for Work and Pensions have sent employers the clear message, “Don’t ignore the Workplace Pension”. If you don’t remember the adverts with the big, colourful monster, you can still watch them on YouTube. Last week, we witnessed the first criminal convictions for deliberately disregarding this message.