The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay rate a worker is entitled to. The rate is set per hour and depends on the worker's age and whether they are an apprentice. All employers have to pay the correct minimum wage, it does not matter whether they have a single employee or a large corporation.

As the end of the tax year approaches, businesses across the UK must ensure that their payroll processes are in order. Proper preparation is essential to avoid costly mistakes, ensure compliance with HMRC regulations, and provide employees with accurate financial records.

More employers have taken an interest in Employment Allowance now it has once again been in the press. 

HMRC have launched a “Don’t get caught out” campaign aimed at protecting workers from tax avoidance schemes. 

It was announced in the budget today that from April the employer’s National Insurance contributions will be increased from 13.8% to 15%.  It was also announced that the secondary threshold is reducing from £9100 per year to £5000.

The UK’s auto-enrolment pension scheme, introduced in 2012, has transformed the landscape of workplace pensions by making it compulsory for employers to automatically enroll eligible employees into a workplace pension. This initiative ensures that more people are saving for retirement, but it also places significant compliance responsibilities on businesses.

Employers can choose to reimburse expenses incurred by the employee but if not the employee may choose to claim tax relief on those expenses. 

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay and Leave (SNCP) is a new statutory allowance arriving in April 2025.

Understanding holiday pay in the UK can be a challenging task, both for employers and employees. While the basic premise of holiday entitlement might seem straightforward, the intricacies of how holiday pay is calculated, who is entitled to it, and what constitutes 'holiday pay' can become complex.

The announcement of a General Election on July 4 2024, brings an element of uncertainty regarding payroll as this may have significant implications for payroll operations, driven by changes in government policies, economic strategies, and legislative priorities.

The Apprenticeship Levy was announced in 2015 and introduced to payroll in April 2017.

HMRC has declared that as of April 2026, it will be obligatory to report and pay income tax and Class 1A National Insurance contributions (NIC) on benefits in kind through payroll.

In a recent article on the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals website, a payroll assistant paid themselves an additional £84,848. This was a serious case of payroll fraud.

Statutory Paternity Leave rules and pay change slightly for parents where the expected week of birth begins after 6th April 2024.

The Scottish Parliament has made Scottish income tax a little more complex again by introducing a new rate. This new rate applies to non-savings, non-dividend income but the Personal Allowance is not affected as this is set by the UK Government.

The IR35 legislation is aimed at ensuring contractors pay the same tax and National Insurance as an employee in an equivalent position.

As we have previously mentioned Benefits in Kind can be processed through the payroll removing the requirement for individual P11Ds.

The holiday pay legislation was changed in April 2020 (read our blog), but a recently published government impact assessment has shown this to have had a number of issues.

If I provide flu vaccines for my employees do I need to report these via a P11D or process the payment as a Benefit in Kind through the payroll?

The National Minimum Wage is set by the Government based upon advice from the Low Pay Commission.