• Employment Tribunals. Time for reform?

    Written on 25 Jan 2011 by Richard Rowell

    We noted with interest this week a press release from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) that will strike a chord with many employers across the UK. Some interesting facts on…

  • Christmas gifts and parties - the tax treatment

    Written on 06 Dec 2010 by Paul Chappell

    There are various tax implications to consider on gifts and parties that you may be providing to your employees at this time of year. The most common situations that arise are as…

  • Changes to Penalties for late CIS contractor returns change in October 2011.

    Written on 03 Dec 2010 by Paul Chappell

    In many cases, the new penalties will be less than what would be charged now. In particular, for new CIS contractors, there will be an upper limit to some of the penalties that…

  • Snow Bound - How should employees be paid

    Written on 03 Dec 2010 by Richard Rowell

    In the current conditions facing the UK, many employers are being faced with the question of to pay or not to pay??  As usual there is no single answer and there are different…

  • HMRC & Faster Payments

    Written on 02 Dec 2010 by Paul Chappell

    Something to watch out for if you are paying HMRC electronically. HMRC do not use 'faster payment' which means that an electronic payment to HMRC takes 3 or 4 days to clear, and…

  • Small businesses slow to adopt flexible working

    Written on 17 Nov 2010 by Richard Rowell

    New research from Virgin Media Business shows that only 14% of SME's (employing up to 250 people) allow their staff to work flexibly or to work from home. This is significantly…

  • PAYE Investigations - Top tips for dealing with them

    Written on 12 Nov 2010 by Richard Rowell

    While full blown company investigations still seem thin on the ground 2010 has seen a steady increase in the number of businesses targeted for PAYE investigations. Why? Well one…

  • Payroll profession properly recognised with Charter Status

    Written on 11 Nov 2010 by Richard Rowell

    Excellent news this week for the payroll profession. The Institute of Payroll Professionals has been awarded Chartered Status. The Privy Council granted the approval on the 10th…

  • Is extended maternity leave at full pay on its way?

    Written on 24 Oct 2010 by Richard Rowell

    This week the European Parliament has given its backing to proposals that could see an increase in the maternity leave for employees extended to 20 weeks at full pay. Euro MPs…

  • Holiday Pay claims - defeating claims for over one year

    Written on 14 Oct 2010 by Richard Rowell

    In a disturbing development for employers last year the House of Lords ruled in HMRC v Stringer that employees could claim accrued but untaken annual leave going back a number of…