The Long-Term Impacts of Furlough

Remote and hybrid working has forced us to explore payroll tools that we otherwise may not have considered pre-pandemic. Using BrightPay payroll software along with the add-on product, BrightPay Connect, enables features that cater for the long-term impacts of furlough.

Automatic cloud back-up

Having access to payroll data from any location is so important. It’s even more important to keep that information safe. BrightPay Connect will automatically backup a payroll file every 15 minutes when open and again when the payroll file is closed down. You will never lose your payroll data again as it can be quickly restored if needed.

Multiple users

One of the biggest changes we have seen in the workplace in recent times is the move to hybrid working. Since working from home during lockdowns, employees have been able to create a better work/life balance and hence want to work some days in the office and some days at home. Each BrightPay licence can be installed on up to 10 devices, meaning payroll can be processed on multiple PCs from anywhere.

With BrightPay Connect, both employers and bureaus have the option to add as many users as they wish to a BrightPay Connect licence at no additional cost. You can also restrict access for these users – for example, some users might be able to view payroll data, and distribute HR documents to employees, while another user, say a sales manager, for example, can be set up so that they can approve leave for employees within their department, with no access to payroll data or confidential documents.

HR document upload

With BrightPay Connect, you can upload any type of document or resource that you want to distribute to your employees via a secure online portal that they can access 24/7. Documents such as a company handbook, a contract of employment, the weekly roster, your COVID-19 Response Plan or even a vaccine policy can be uploaded. Having a secure portal where documents are organised all in the one place, makes it easier for employees to find something when they need it, especially when they are out of the office.

No conflicting copies

When there is more than one person working on the same employer file at the same time, it is important that no conflicting copies are created which could result in mistakes in the payroll. This was a challenge at the beginning of the pandemic when people had to start working from home and were unprepared. BrightPay Connect includes a ‘version checking’ feature when opening an employer file, and an ‘other users check’ to prevent the risk of conflicting copies.

Client payroll entry & approval

You no longer need to visit or work from your client’s base to process their payroll. You don’t need to make phone calls or even email your client’s looking for payroll information anymore! BrightPay Connect gives bureaus the ability to send payroll requests to their clients, where they will be able to enter payments, additions and deductions via a secure portal. The approval feature allows bureaus to securely send their clients a payroll summary before the payroll is finalised to ensure 100% accuracy. Save time, resources and even reduce your carbon footprint!

Related articles:

• Hybrid Working is the Future
• 6 ways to stay ahead of the competition in the payroll services market
• BrightPay Connect: More than just a cloud back-up

Posted byHolly McHughinCoronavirus

BrightPay Connect: More than just a cloud back-up

In BrightPay’s 2021 customer survey, we asked you which features of BrightPay Connect you were aware of. While the majority of customers were aware of all BrightPay Connect’s features, there were customers who admitted that they use BrightPay Connect solely for its automatic back-up of payroll data to the cloud. 

It is understandable why this feature is of the utmost importance to many of our customers. The thoughts of something happening to your computer and you permanently losing important payroll data just doesn't bear thinking about. Also, the convenience of never having to manually back-up data again is a time-saver that you now could not live without. 

However, if you are only using BrightPay Connect to back-up your data to the cloud it means you are missing out on a wide range of features that could benefit you, your business and your employees. You may feel the value of our cloud back-up feature is enough to justify the amount you pay for BrightPay Connect but by not taking advantage of our many other features, you could be missing out. 

Employer dashboard

Even if you are only using BrightPay Connect as a cloud back-up, you should already be familiar with the employer dashboard. From the dashboard you can view all employees’ contact details, employees’ payslips, any outstanding amounts due to HMRC and reports that have been set up in BrightPay on the desktop application. Here is also where you will receive notifications when there are tasks that require your attention, for example if you have a new employee leave requests to complete. From the dashboard, employers can also access a company-wide annual leave calendar, making it easier to manage all staff leave.

Employers have the option to invite as many users as they wish to the BrightPay Connect employer dashboard at no additional cost. Colleagues can be added as co-administrators, or an external accountant can be added as a standard user which will give them access to the payroll data which has synchronised with the payroll software.

Employee self service

When you use BrightPay Connect you can invite employees to access their own self-service platform through any computer, tablet, or smartphone. Once logged in, employees will have the ability to:

• View or download all past and current payslips
• View or download other important employee documents which have been shared with them such as contracts of employment, staff handbooks, P60s etc.
• View their own personal annual leave calendar and their leave balance remaining
• Request time off anywhere, anytime; even on the go, straight from their smartphone
• Receive push notifications on their mobile when their newest payslip has become available, when a leave request has been approved or denied or when a new document has been made available to them
• Request updates or changes to the information their employer has on file for them

When employees have access to their own self-service platform, it means the employer can better manage their staff while giving them a sense of control and flexibility over their work life. Giving employees the power to access documents, request leave and update their information through their phone means less time spent by employers or managers on administrative tasks. 

BrightPay Connect’s multi-user access feature means managers can be assigned to deal with annual leave requests from specific employees. For example, if you have a sales department, the Sales Manager can be assigned to deal with all requests from that department.

To start taking advantage of these great benefits simply log in to your employer dashboard to send your employees a welcome email containing instructions on how they can log in to their own self-service portal. View here for more information on how to get your employees started. Or why not request a free online demo of BrightPay Connect to learn more about how it works.

Related articles:

• Pay Employees Directly through BrightPay
• 6 payroll mistakes (and how to easily avoid them)
• Up your Payroll Game with an Online Client Portal

Posted byElaine CarrollinPayrollPayroll Software

Hybrid Working is the Future

COVID-19 made working from home a necessity overnight, whether we preferred working that way or not. Unfortunately, many businesses had to close their doors as their work duties could not be completed at home. The COVID-19 lockdown was effectively a mass experiment in remote working, and one that many businesses and employees feel was at least a partial success. The world of work may change forever as employees want hybrid working to be the future by working some days from the office and some days from home. If businesses get it right, hybrid working has significant benefits.

Work/life balance

A recent study of 2,000 UK employees revealed that 67% of those working remotely since COVID-19 want to be able to split their time between the physical workplace and home working in the future. Working from home allows employees to spend more time with their partner, family or pets during lunch breaks and time they would have spent commuting. It also allows them to get chores around the house done or time to fully relax.

Employers and payroll processors can also enjoy hybrid working as they don’t need to worry about having to complete payroll tasks in one set location. BrightPay payroll files can be accessed remotely through cloud environments like a shared server, Google Drive or Dropbox. This flexibility will allow users to continue to operate their payroll as normal and can be installed on up to 10 PCs.

Communication

Keeping employees connected by effective communication is key. Employers must continue to provide multi communication channels for employees. It shouldn’t matter whether they are attending a meeting online via Zoom or in person face-to-face, the outcome should be the same.

One of the biggest frustrations for many employees working remotely is not having access to the physical paper-based files they had in the office. BrightPay Connect can help. BrightPay Connect is an optional cloud add-on to BrightPay's payroll desktop application. It offers a HR Document Upload feature which allows managers to share documents with individuals, departments or the whole company at the touch of a button anytime, anywhere. Employees can access it using their smartphone or tablet device.

Regular communication is essential for hybrid working. Without it, employees can feel disconnected, morale can dip, and priorities can become confused. The click rate of a push notification is 7 times higher than that of email, and BrightPay Connect is a great way of communicating with employees when it comes to important updates.

Productivity

It took a global pandemic for a lot of businesses to realise that productivity was not lowered by remote working.

Remote working can increase productivity. The top number of reasons include:

• Fewer interruptions
• Less distractions
• Working in a more comfortable place
• More time to get work done
• Better daily routine

Working from the office can also benefit individuals as they are learning from others naturally e.g., overhearing a good sales call and getting tips to improve their own approach or building relationships with colleagues they might not work directly with.

Commute

A recent survey in the UK found that remote workers save the equivalent of 17 days when they don’t have to spend time getting to and from work with an average commute time of 50 minutes. This means less road rage and being late to work if you don’t have to commute every day! Remote working is vital to keeping air pollution to a minimum. Based on findings, working from home could cut 11 billion car miles per year.

BrightPay takes environmental responsibility seriously and is committed to developing our business towards ecological sustainability at both company and individual level. We are extremely excited to be opening our new carbon efficient offices in 2021.

Overall, a work/life balance can increase an individual’s happiness, fulfilment and job satisfaction.

Find out more about BrightPay and BrightPay Connect by booking a free 15-minute online demo.

Related articles:

• Top tips for managing employees as lockdown ends (and what you should avoid)
• Remote Working Is Becoming The New Normal - What Does This Means For Payroll?
• 1 Year On: BrightPay & Covid-19

Posted byHolly McHughinCoronavirus

Paying employees for the first time: A small business checklist

Have you started the business you’ve always dreamed of? It’s an exciting time but as I’m sure you know, there is a lot to figure out. When you throw tax, employment law and pensions into the mix, it can feel overwhelming.

When you’re under pressure to get going, spending time figuring out how payroll works, may feel frustrating. However, running payroll yourself will help keep overheads down, which is something every new business owner is interested in. It’s essential you get it right and if you get it right from the beginning, it can make your life a lot easier in the long term.

Here’s a quick checklist to ensure you don’t fall foul of HMRC or end up having some very unhappy employees.

How do I run my own payroll?

1. First, register as an employer with HMRC to receive your employer PAYE reference number. You’ll need to do this even if you are the only employee of the company.
2. Choose an RTI and HMRC recognised payroll software such as BrightPay Payroll to run your payroll and report to HMRC on. Using BrightPay payroll software can help you fulfil your legal obligations as an employer, make processing payroll much quicker, while also offering useful HR solutions.
3. Add your employees’ information to your payroll software. Importantly, you need to enter the employee’s tax code for the year, choose the appropriate National Insurance rate to use, and include any deductions the employee is liable to (e.g. student loan).

How do I set up auto enrolment for a new business?

Once you decide to hire an employee, you need to ensure you are ready to comply with the workplace pension law. Your legal duties begin on the day your first member of staff starts work. This is known as your duties start date.

1. Upon hiring, assess whether your employees are eligible jobholders and are entitled to be put into a pension scheme. BrightPay payroll automatically assesses employees for enrolment, and if they meet the criteria to be enrolled in a pension scheme, on-screen alerts will appear.
2. As soon as possible, choose a pension scheme that can be used for automatic enrolment. Your payroll software may provide direct integration with a number of pension providers which will save you a significant amount of time. View BrightPay’s API integrations with pension providers here.
3. Within 6 weeks of your duties start date, use your payroll software to send letters informing your employees of auto enrolment and how it applies to them. With BrightPay, auto enrolment letters are automatically created and customised for each individual employee.
4. Complete a declaration of compliance to the Pensions Regulator within 5 months after your duties start date.

How do I pay my employees?

1. Once you’re happy that all the payroll information is correct, you’re ready to run your first payroll. Once finalised, the employees' payslips need to be sent to them. With BrightPay, payslips can be printed or emailed directly to employees, or if you use BrightPay Connect, payslips are automatically sent to the employee’s smartphone via the self-service app.
2. Next, you’ll need to actually pay your employees. You can do this either by cash, cheque or direct debit. If your payroll software offers it, you can also pay directly from the software using a direct payments method. This eliminates the need to create bank files associated with direct debits and allows you to pay employees in a fast and secure way.

Reporting and paying HMRC for the first time:

1. Make sure you register your employees with HMRC. This can be done by including their details (pay and deductions) on a Full Payment Submission (FPS) the first time you pay them. Going forward, an FPS must be sent to HMRC on or before each pay day, notifying HMRC of a payment made to that employee.
2. Pay HMRC the tax and National Insurance (and any other deductions) you owe as reported on your FPS.
3. You can pay HMRC a number of ways but a simple way of doing it is through your payroll software. See Pay HMRC through payroll software for more information.

Interested in learning more?

If you would like to learn more about BrightPay payroll software and how it can help you get ready for running your first payroll, speak to a member of our team today.

Posted byÁine CourtneyinPayrollPayroll Software

Educate clients on BrightPay Connect using our new online resources

How to introduce new services to existing clients

When it comes to growing your practice, your focus may be on attracting new clients. However, introducing new services to your existing clients is also a great way to grow your business and increase its profitability. Selling new services to the clients you already have can be easier to do, as they already trust you and the services you provide.

Once you have decided on the new services you would like to introduce, how do you promote these new solutions to your clients? Email, your website and social media are all channels that can be used to promote your new services. However, promoting a new service isn’t enough if you do not effectively communicate the benefits of the new services being offered. Educating your clients on the full benefits of a service and instructing them on how to use it, means they will be able to get the most out of it, improving customer satisfaction.

Introducing your clients to the benefits of BrightPay Connect

So, you have decided to introduce BrightPay Connect, our optional cloud add-on into your practice. By linking payroll data and access to the cloud, this functionality offers you significant online benefits to enhance your payroll services, strengthen client relationships and increase profits. You may understand how much you, your clients and your clients’ employees can benefit from using BrightPay Connect but what’s the easiest way to inform clients of these benefits?

At BrightPay, we’ve done the work for you and have put all the information your clients need in one place. Below are three options for sharing the information with your clients:

1. Direct them to our new Client Hub Webpage

To bring clients up-to-date on your new services simply send them a link to the new Client Hub webpage on our website. There they will find:

• A client-focused demo video of how to use BrightPay Connect.
• A full list of BrightPay Connect’s features and how your clients can benefit from them.
• Information on the employee self-service app.
• A link to our Connect Employee Starter Pack with information on how to get started using Connect.
• Instructions on how your clients can invite employees to start using the app.
• Instructions on how your clients can invite line managers, department managers, HR managers and other colleagues to the employer dashboard.
• Links to other useful resources.

2. Send them our Client Hub PDF

Rather than sending your clients straight to our website, you can send them our Client Hub document instead. The document contains all the same information as the webpage and can be downloaded and read anywhere, on any device. The document could also be attached to emails being sent out to clients as a way of promoting this new range of services.

3. Embed our Client Hub PDF onto your own website

Creating a page on your own website where you can display all the information your clients need on BrightPay Connect is easier than you think. You can create a simple webpage where you have all your information on the new service you are offering and how much it costs etc. On the same page you can embed our Client Hub PDF, by simply pasting the code below into the HTML on your website:

<p><iframe src="https://www.brightpay.co.uk/guides/Client-Hub-UK.pdf" width="1080" height="1092"></iframe></p>

Visit here for help on how to embed code onto your website. Below is how the PDF will look once added:

 For more information on how BrightPay Payroll Software and BrightPay Connect can automate payroll processes and help your practice become more efficient watch back our webinar ‘Optimising your payroll offering to improve profitability’.

Related articles:

• Payroll transformed: How client cloud platforms supercharge your bureau
• From process to profit: Four ways payroll processing can add to your bottom line
• The Future of Payroll: Pay employees in 90 seconds

Posted byElaine CarrollinMarketing

Furlough Claims - Key dates you need to know

Employers need to make a claim for their grant for their furloughed workers through HMRC's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme online service. This is where employers can claim for some of their employee’s wages if they have put them on furlough or flexible furlough because of COVID-19.

Furlough claims must be submitted within 14 calendar days after the month they relate to, unless this falls on a weekend, in which case the deadline is the next weekday. The next deadline for claims relating to June 2021 will be 14th July 2021. Employers can make claims before, during or after the payroll is run.

Employers can only make one claim per claim period, so you must include all furloughed and flexibly furloughed employees in the one claim, even if you pay them at different times. When claiming for employees on flexible furlough, employers will need to report hours worked along with the worker's usual hours in a claim period. Therefore, it is best to make a claim once you’re sure of the exact number of hours your employees will work so that you don’t have to amend your claim at a later date.

It’s important to note however that if the pay period crosses two calendar months, two separate claims are required to reclaim the furlough pay, for example, a claim in June would be needed to cover the dates falling in June and a claim in July will be needed for the dates falling in July.

Employers need to make a claim through HMRC’s online claim portal to avail of the scheme. BrightPay payroll software includes a CJRS Claim Report which can be used to ascertain the amounts needed for input into HMRC’s online service.

Find out more about how BrightPay caters for COVID-19 functionality by booking a free online product demo. BrightPay’s overall response to COVID-19 was rated 99.1% in a recent customer survey from May 2021, and this included payroll upgrades, webinars, online guidance and customer support.

Related articles:

• Timetable of changes for CJRS
• BrightPay’s COVID-19 Resources Hub
• How COVID-19 has accelerated payroll transformation

Posted byHolly McHughinCoronavirus

Employer contribution to furlough – what happens if their pay has changed?

Although lockdown restrictions are continuing to ease, many businesses are still dependant on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for paying their employees. The latest HMRC figures show that 2.4 million people still relied on the furlough scheme for their income at the end of May 2021. Although numbers continued to fall in June, it is estimated that there are now between 1.3 million and 1.9 million people on the scheme.

New rules since 1st July mean that employers are now required to pay 10% of their employees' wages to make up 80% of their pay (up to a maximum of £2,500 per month), with the government contribution now reduced to 70% of the employee’s wages.

But now that employers have the added expense of contributing to wage costs, they are looking for more clarity on how their employees' wages are calculated for the purposes of furlough.

Calculating Employee’s Furlough Pay

There are different calculations to consider when calculating your employee’s usual wages for furlough, depending on whether they work fixed or variable hours:

• Employees on fixed hours - You must work out 80% of the employee's usual wage by looking at the wages payable to your employee in the past pay period ending on or before the employee’s reference date.
  
  
• Employees on variable hours - How you work out the usual wages for employees with variable hours also depends on their reference date. You must also take the lookback period into consideration.

Click here to find out more about furlough reference period rules.

Calculating furlough when their pay has changed

Regardless of what the employee’s pay is now, you must still use the wages payable in the relevant reference period when calculating their furlough pay. The majority of employees have a 19th March 2020 reference date, i.e. those who were eligible for furlough under the original scheme, regardless of whether or not they were actually placed on furlough at that time.

For employees who are paid minimum wage, there have been two increases to the National Minimum Wage rate since 19th March 2020. While employees must be paid the new rate for hours worked (or doing work-related training), the furlough pay is still calculated on the wages payable in the reference period, even if this means that their hourly rate will fall below minimum wage.

Read: Minimum Wage Increases and Furlough: What Happens Now?

Regardless of the National Minimum Wage, where employees pay has increased (for example if they got a promotion or an annual wage increase), the wages payable at the reference period must still be used when calculating the 80% of wages.

On the other hand, where an employees pay has been reduced, for example if there has been a slowdown in business and the employee is now working fewer hours, again the reference period must still be used. Therefore, in this scenario, the employee’s furlough pay may, in fact, work out much higher than the wages they would be earning if they weren’t on furlough.

Furlough Calculations Made Easy

BrightPay provides functionality to calculate and apply furlough pay to an employee's payslip, and this includes support for flexible furlough. By entering in the employee’s usual hours worked and the actual hours worked into BrightPay, the software will automatically calculate the pro-rated subsidy. For more information, you can also view HMRC’s help guidance for examples of how to work out 80% of your employee’s usual wage.

Free Furlough Webinar

Join BrightPay for a free webinar on 28th July where their team of payroll and HR experts discuss recent changes to the furlough scheme and the challenge of reference periods. There will also be a live Q&A session to answer any questions that you may have.

Limited Places Remaining – Click here to reserve your place.

Related Articles:

• July 2021 Changes to Furlough Pay and COVID-19 Statutory Sick Pay Rules
• Made an error in your furlough claim? Here's how to amend it
• How COVID-19 has accelerated payroll transformation

Posted byRachel HynesinCoronavirusPayroll SoftwareWages

July 2021 Changes to Furlough Pay and COVID-19 Statutory Sick Pay Rules

How will furlough pay rules change in July?

As of the 1st of July, 2021 employers will need to begin to contribute furlough pay for unworked hours. For July, the government will contribute 70% of the employees’ wages (up to £2187.50) while employers will be required to contribute the remaining 10% (up to £312.50). Employers will also need to pay any National Insurance and pension contributions. From August until the scheme ends on September 30th, the government will contribute 60% of their employees’ wages (up to £1875) while employers will be required to contribute the remaining 20% (up to £625).

The image below shows the contribution percentages for the furlough scheme from July to September 2021.

How will Statutory Sick Pay rules change in July?

When someone in your ‘support bubble’ (or your ‘extended household’ if living in Scotland or Wales) has tested positive for COVID-19 or is showing symptoms of COVID-19 you should self-isolate. Starting Monday, July 6th, employees who are self-isolating for this reason will now be eligible for SSP. The employee must self-isolate for at least 4 days to be eligible for SSP and is only entitled to SSP for any days they were self-isolating from July 6th onwards.

Related articles:

• Customer Update: July 2021
• Furlough Wind-Down: Key changes to the CJRS from July
• Furlough from July to September - what will be different?

Posted byElaine CarrollinEmployment Update

Customer Update: July 2021

Welcome to BrightPay's July update. Our most important news this month include:

• Reminder: The P11D Deadline is Tuesday 6th July

• Leaving lockdown: How to manage the annual leave backlog

• The payroll mistake that could cost you (and how to avoid a fine)

• How COVID-19 has accelerated payroll transformation

Furlough Update – New Changes Come into Effect Today        

From 1st July, the Government contribution to furlough will reduce to 70% (up to £2,187.50) and the employer will also have to contribute 10% of wages. Join us for a free webinar where we will discuss the key changes to the CJRS and answer any questions that you may have. The webinar takes place on 28th July at 10.30 am and is free to attend for all employers and payroll bureaus. 

Introducing BrightPay’s New Client Hub – Content to share with your clients!    

How can you promote BrightPay Connect to your clients? To get the most out of it, you need to educate your clients on the benefits of the service and how to use it. We’ve designed a new Client Hub that you can share with your clients containing everything they need to know - videos, guides, benefits and more!  

New Feature: Pay HMRC using Modulr 

This new feature provides a fast, secure and easy way to pay HMRC through BrightPay. It adds to BrightPay’s existing integration with Modulr that helps you to:

• Pay Instantly (under 90 seconds)
• Pay anytime, anywhere (including weekends and bank holidays)
• Eliminate Bacs files when paying employees and HMRC
• Cut down on errors associated with manual entry 

Multiple Users in BrightPay Connect

Posted byHolly McHughinCustomer Update