Jan 2017
23
Living and Minimum Wage Increases on 1st April 2017
On the 1st April 2017 the minimum and living wage will increase again. Going forward the rate will then change every April, starting in 2017.
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is the minimum pay per hour most employees are entitled to by law. An employee's age and if they are an apprentice will determine the rate they will receive. The National Living Wage is the national rate set for people aged 25 and over.
| Rates from 1 October 2016 are: | Rates from 1 April 2017 will be: | |
| 25 yrs old and over | £7.20 per hour | £7.50 per hour |
| 21-24 yrs old | £6.95 per hour | £7.05 per hour |
| 18-20 yrs old | £5.55 per hour | £5.60 per hour |
| 16-17 yrs old | £4.00 per hour | £4.05 per hour |
| Apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship | £3.40 per hour | £3.50 per hour |
Jan 2017
10
Payroll software should work with any Auto Enrolment pension scheme.
As part of automatic enrolment, employers need to have a qualifying workplace pension scheme in place. However, if you are an employer and have no eligible employees you do not need to set up a scheme. Non-eligible jobholders have the option to opt in to the scheme and entitled workers can choose to join the scheme, therefore it would be advisable to have a scheme in mind.
For an eligible jobholder, the employer and the employee must pay into the chosen scheme to help the employee save for their retirement. Eligible jobholders have the right to opt out of the scheme. Employers will need to find a scheme themselves or consult with an accountant or financial adviser to help them choose the best option.
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) advises employers to research a few different schemes before they make their decision. The following schemes have informed TPR that they are open to the small employer market.
- The People’s Pension
- Ascot Lloyd Benefit Solutions
- True Potential Investments
- Standard Life Workplace Pension
- Welplan Pensions
- AutoEnrolment.co.uk
- The BlueSky Pension Scheme (TBPS)
- NOW: Pensions
- NEST
- Aviva Workplace Pension
Employers will need to confirm that the pension scheme will accept all their staff, how much it will cost to implement and what the ongoing costs will be to both the employer and the employee. Importantly, you will need to make sure it works with your existing payroll software. BrightPay supports 17 different pension schemes listed below. We also offer direct API integration with both NEST and Smart Pension. This means users can submit their pension files directly from BrightPay to the pension provider, similar to RTI submissions. BrightPay can also accommodate any pension scheme that is not directly supported where users can export a csv file with the required information selected and upload to the pension portal.
Find out more here.
Related articles
- Auto Enrolment - Choosing a Pension Scheme
- A few things to consider when choosing a pension scheme for AE
- What’s involved with AE on an ongoing basis?
