Jun 2022
1
To Pay or Not to Pay – The Jubilee Bank Holiday
On Friday 3 June 2022, there will be an extra Bank Holiday granted to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The usual May Bank Holiday has been moved forward to Thursday 2 June 2022 resulting in a four-day weekend for those able to take time off.
What are your employees’ rights when an additional Bank Holiday is announced?
The general rule is that employees do not have an automatic right to a day off work when this or any other Bank Holiday is announced. Employers will need to review their contract of employment to determine if an employee is entitled to a day off work and to be paid for it.
Some contracts of employment will state that the employee is entitled to a certain number of days of annual leave, “plus bank holidays”. In this case, they will be entitled to the additional Bank Holiday off work.
Other contracts of employment state that the employee is entitled to a set number of days of annual leave, but do not mention Bank Holidays. In this scenario, the employee will not be automatically entitled to the additional Bank Holiday off work.
Some employment contracts provide the employee with a set number of days of annual leave “plus eight Bank Holidays”. Again, this will mean that the employee is not automatically entitled to the additional Bank Holiday off work.
If the contract states “you are entitled to XX days holidays plus the usual bank holidays in England and Wales” again this would not give the worker an automatic right to the additional Bank Holiday because the addition Jubilee day is not a “usual” bank holiday
Employers will need to review their employees’ contracts of employment to see whether all of them, some of them, or none of them are entitled to take the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday off of work.
Where employees do not have a contractual right to the additional Bank Holiday, employers will need to consider if they wish to grant the day’s leave as a gesture of goodwill, if they will require employees to attend work or if they will give employees a day off in lieu of the Bank Holiday due to staffing requirements.
Whilst it is important to comply with the letter of the contract of employment or work, the additional Bank Holiday can also be a morale booster for staff. You may consider granting employees an additional day’s holiday for the Jubilee as an act of goodwill, stressing of course the reason for it being allowed as a one-off gesture.
Related Articles:
Extra Bank Holiday for Queen's Jubilee
May 2021
25
Free Webinar: Optimising your payroll offering to improve profitability
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Today, your payroll and HR processes can be more automated and streamlined than ever before. It’s now feasible for payroll to be profitable for bureaus offering it as a service.
In this webinar, we explore various ways that accountants can automate payroll processes, and ultimately, become more efficient. Discover how you can work smarter and faster with BrightPay.
What you’ll learn:
- The benefits of integrated payroll and accounting systems
- How batch processing can transform your payroll performance
- How you can streamline client communications
- Top tips for expanding your client base
- Pricing Strategies that work – what other practices are doing
The webinar takes place on 1st June at 11.00 am and is free to attend for all accountants and payroll bureaus.
If you are unable to attend the webinar at the specified time, simply register and we will send you the recording afterwards.
Mar 2021
10
1 Year On: BrightPay & Covid-19
It’s been exactly one year since BrightPay sent all employees to work from home for 2 weeks as a mysterious flu-like disease called COVID-19 began spreading across Ireland and the UK. Those 2 weeks have turned in 52 weeks... and counting.
On March 10th 2020, employees were given access to all the tools and resources needed to work from home well in advance of the lockdown panic that came towards the end of March 2020. BrightPay worked with employees to try and strike a balance between ensuring employees could be productive and focused when not in the office, whilst also juggling often hectic home lives as we all adjusted to lockdown. Keeping in-touch and keeping moral up was a key priority.
The company was in a fortunate position to be able to continue employing all members of staff during such a scary and uncertain time. BrightPay’s COVID-19 response plan involved additional staffing and increased hours to assist customers. With payroll being an essential service and part of every business, the show had to go on!
BrightPay has been at the forefront for employers and accountants when it comes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and were one of the first payroll software providers to release software upgrades to cater for the furlough scheme as changes were announced. BrightPay's overall response to COVID-19 was rated 98.6% in a recent customer survey, and this included payroll upgrades, webinars, online guidance and customer support.
BrightPay won the COVID-19 Hero Award (supplier) at the Accounting Excellence Awards that took place recently. There were a number of criteria that were considered by the panel for this award. Judging took into account the speed, time and relevance of businesses’ COVID-19 response and how many customers accessed it.
Despite all the COVID-19 scheme changes, upgrades and webinars, the developers have been kept busy constantly improving the software and introducing new features. BrightPay’s optional add-on product, BrightPay Connect now supports two-factor authentication sign in. This means you can add an extra layer of security to the employer login on your BrightPay Connect account in case your password is stolen.
As remote and flexible working are now the new normal, BrightPay in tandem with BrightPay Connect will soon allow for a completely seamless "working from home" experience where there are multiple individuals who work on or require access to the same employer files. BrightPay Connect can help you prevent conflicting copies of the payroll, including an ‘other user check’ and a ‘version check’ when opening the payroll.
Let’s hope we all return to a somewhat normal life within the next year, and that I won’t be writing ‘working from home 104 weeks later’ this time next year. BrightPay wishes you the very best as we enter Year 2 of living with COVID-19.
If you are looking to change payroll software provider or looking to bring your payroll in-house, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Book a free 15-minute online demo to see how BrightPay can change your world of payroll.
Related Articles:
- Why are BrightPay the perfect payroll partner during challenging times?
- New financial support announced for businesses to survive lockdown
- Managing Annual Leave During COVID-19: 3 Tips Every HR Manager Needs To Know
Mar 2021
8
International Women’s Day 2021
Thesaurus Software is proud to be supporting International Women’s Day 2021.
The theme of International Women’s Day this year is “Choose to Challenge”, a theme we wholeheartedly agree with. When we challenge the norms, the status quo, the “because that’s just the way it is”, we create change. At Thesaurus Software we firmly believe that change is necessary for development and improvement, so much so that it is embedded in our core values.
This year we are enhancing our Inclusion and Diversity efforts, in the hope that all staff will feel comfortable in bringing their whole self to work. International Women’s Day is our first day of celebration this year, our aim is not only to celebrate our women, but to raise awareness of inclusion more generally.
Promoting Gender Equality at Thesaurus
We are proud to say that we have always had a strong representation of women right across our company.
Our senior management team is 66% female. Across the Company as a whole, we are 64% female.
As we grow, we are continuously looking at how we can best assist our employees to grow and be themselves. In the last six months, we have introduced two key initiatives which help us achieve this.
- Firstly, LinkedIn Learning has been made available to all employees. LinkedIn Learning has been a game-changer for our employees and opened the window on learning and awareness.
- Secondly, we have just introduced paid maternity and paternity leave. We really hope that this will help new parents to be successful both at work and at home.
Our Female Leaders
We asked some of our female leaders for their thoughts on working in leadership;
“It’s important that all managers inspire, engage, and encourage their team. This is what I strive for. As a female manager, I’m very privileged to work for a company that recognises and promotes these values for both men and women equally. Females in any workplace should never underestimate what they are capable of achieving” - Karen Bennett, Chief Commercial Officer
“My advice to my 20-year-old self would be to think of your career as a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t ever settle on the first job or career path you undertake, if you are not invested in it. Allow yourself the time to discover what are you passionate about doing. Finding a job that I love has certainly helped me reach the point in my career that I’m at today.” - Victoria Clarke, Product Development Manager
“As a woman working for Thesaurus Software for the past 23 years and fast approaching retirement, I feel I am now entering the most exciting period of my career at Thesaurus Software and rather than winding down, the journey forward in this fast-growing company, supported by our amazing CEO, Paul Byrne has no limits.” - Ann Tighe, Senior Business Development Manager
“Working at Thesaurus as a woman in management, I feel inspired by other female leaders and peers within the company to lead my team with the same encouragement I feel every day. I have always felt hugely supported as a woman within Thesaurus which has provided me with the tools I need to motivate and empower my team, particularly as I progressed into the management role.” - Cailin Reilly, Sales Manager
“After joining Thesaurus Software as a Marketing Intern, I never thought that I would be where I am today after just 6 years. Working at Thesaurus Software has really given me the opportunity to progress, both in terms of personal and professional development. No two years have been the same and it has been an exciting time to be part of the team, helping the company grow to where it is today.” - Rachel Hynes, Marketing Manager
IWD 2021 in Thesaurus
Some of our fantastic team have taken part in the IWD challenge, standing up socially distantly and choosing to challenge. See their fab pictures below.
This year, we will also be using our LinkedIn Learning platform to raise awareness around inclusion and equity in the workplace. We have a series of short informative videos addressing a range of topics that we will share with staff remotely during March.
Our message to all our employees today is, bring your whole self to work, your thoughts and ideas are valued, we love to hear them. Working together, trusting, respecting and supporting each other we can only do great things.
Oct 2019
3
The life-changing magic of payroll cloud platforms: Free up time, work smarter and make more profits
The payroll landscape has changed significantly in recent years, not just because of RTI and auto enrolment, but also because of online client platforms. The relationship between the client and the payroll professional is no longer one-directional. Payroll services can - and should - be a team effort.
Join BrightPay’s Rachel Hynes and Ian Jenkinson as they take you through how cloud innovation can streamline, automate and delegate day-to-day tasks such as payslip distribution, entering the client's payroll data and backing up your payroll. That’s more time to focus on the essentials and provide better service.
Webinar Agenda
- Part 1: In this webinar, Rachel will examine six exciting ways that client cloud platforms have transformed payroll services. Not in the distant or even medium-term future: this is happening right now.
- Part 2: Ian will demonstrate how BrightPay Connect’s next-generation features can benefit your practice. Your payroll and HR processes can be more integrated into the cloud and streamlined with your payroll software than ever before.
Be ready to offer a new level of payroll and HR-related services by embracing automation and cloud flexibility for you, your clients and their employees. Register for this free CPD accredited webinar now to see how you can become more efficient by implementing new cloud technologies.
Can’t make it? Register for the webinar anyway and we will send you the on-demand recording when it’s ready.
More upcoming webinars
Join BrightPay for our series of free CPD accredited webinars where we look at how cloud innovation is transforming the future of payroll services. More upcoming webinars include:
- Cloud platforms - the next generation payroll trend that every bureau should adopt
- Expand your payroll services with online client platforms
- The impact of cloud platforms on the future of payroll services
Feb 2018
27
Next stop: Accountex Summit North! Find out why you should attend
Accountex Summit North is the NEW one-day conference dedicated to the accounting profession. This conference is all about learning, connecting and networking. It will take place at Manchester Central on 6th March 2018 and will attract over 1,000 people.
In today’s world it’s so easy to attend and watch a webinar from the comforts of your own bed or even while relaxing on holidays from practically anywhere in the world. But, there are many benefits and reasons why we choose to attend these conferences. Although, you can conduct meetings, watch online software demos, interviews and provide training without leaving your home/office, nothing can substitute for live, in peron business conferences.
Face-to-Face Networking
At BrightPay payroll, we believe that one of the most important aspects of a business conference is your ability to network and form relationships with other businesses and attendees. You become more than just an email address or a screen name by meeting face-to-face. When reaching out to people you met at a conference in the future, they will be more receptive if you left a good impression when you met in person.
Observe Visual Cues
These non-verbal communication elements such as body language and the overall atmosphere and environment allows you to remember knowledge from a previous experience. At Accountex Summit North, there is a range of high profile keynote speakers offering the latest insights, focusing around a main auditorium.
Direct Contact
Attending conferences such as Accountex Summit North puts you in direct contact with potential clients, software providers and customers in a setting where they will be receptive to hearing about your business ideas or recommendations.
Observe your Competitors
One of the reasons you attend a business conference is to learn the best ways to improve and grow your business. Your competitors are there for the exact same reason. Live events allow you to observe and learn what strengths and weaknesses your competitors may have. You can use this information to gain a competitive edge.
Promote Creativity & Innovation
Taking a break from your day-to-day activities to attend a live event helps you develop new ideas in a change of scenery, because being in business doesn’t mean all work no fun!
Visit BrightPay’s stand
Come visit us at stand number 33 at Accountex Summit North on the 6th March 2018 to see for yourself how our payroll software, BrightPay can benefit you and your business. BrightPay is incredibly flexible, letting you run your payroll with ease, no matter what type of employer you are or what your situation is.
We will run live demos at Accountex. Call over and speak to one of our experts to see just how useful BrightPay can be.
Alternatively Click here to book a demo of our software.
Related Articles:
Dec 2017
6
Autumn Budget 2017 - Employer Focus
The main points to be noted by employers from Autumn Budget 2017, as announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond are:
- The personal tax allowance will increase by £350 from £11,500 to £11,850 from 6th April 2018. This is in line with the government's goal to have the personal tax allowance at £12,500 by 2020.
- The higher rate tax threshold will increase to £46,350 from £45,000.
- As previously announced, there has been a delay by one year on the series of changes for NICs to be implemented. These changes will now take effect from April 2019. They include the reforms to the NIC treatment of termination payments, abolition of Class 2 NICs and changes to NICs treatment of sporting testimonials.
- The planned increase in Class 4 NICs from 9% to 10% in April 2018 and to 11% in April 2019 by the government will no longer be happening.
- There is an increase in the Company Car Tax (CCT) diesel supplement to 4% from 3%. The supplement will apply to diesel cars registered on or after 1st January 1998 that are not certified to the Real Driving Emissions 2 standard. It will not apply to diesel hybrids or other vehicles except cars.
- From 6th April 2018 there will be no Benefit in Kind charge on electricity that employers provide to charge employees’ electric vehicles.
- The Government has announced its intention to consult on the extension to the private sector of the IR35 reforms, introduced in the public sector earlier this year.
- There is an increase of the lifetime allowance for pension savings, rising to £1,030,000 for 2018-19.
- The National Minimum Wage details for 1st April 2018 were published.
- HMRC's compliance team are monitoring employers that are claiming the Employment Allowance, as it has been reported that some employers are using avoidance schemes to avoid paying National Insurance amounts due.
Related Articles
Dec 2017
5
Customer Update - December 2017
5 simple scenarios to stop pension scams
A pension scam – when someone tries to con you out of your pension money – will often start by someone contacting you unexpectedly with one of many pension scenarios. If you find yourself in one of these scenarios make sure to act fast to prevent becoming a victim of a pension scam.
Sign up to BrightPay’s newsletter
Do you want to hear more about future CPD events, free ebooks, industry updates and special offers? Subscribe to BrightPay’s newsletter today. You will have the option to unsubscribe at anytime.
Does automatic enrolment apply to you?
It is essential that all employers understand that if they employ just one person, they have certain legal duties for automatic enrolment. After the 1st October 2017, new employers who employ their first member of staff will have to comply with auto enrolment from the day the new employee starts.
Free Webinar - What does GDPR mean for your business?
All businesses process large amounts of personal data, not least in relation to their customers and their own employees. Consequently, the GDPR will impact most if not all areas of businesses and the impact it will have cannot be overstated. Places are limited.
Bureau Webinar: 6th February | Employer Webinar: 13th March
How to avoid harassment in the workplace
The recent allegations against Harvey Weinstein in the US have created somewhat of a snowball effect worldwide with thousands of women and men speaking out about their accounts of sexual harassment and assault, many of them being work related.
Cut down on payroll processing time with BrightPay Connect
Employers across the UK are automating the process of providing payroll and HR documents to employees, such as payslips, P60s, employment contracts and company handbooks. Annual leave management can also be simplified and automated giving you more time to focus on pressing business matters.
Out with the staging date - in with the duties start date!
The ‘duties start date’ is the date that an employee first begins to work for a company. For those recruiting after October 1st 2017, it is important to be aware that as soon as their new hire begins working for them, their automatic enrolment duties will also begin straight away.
Did you know BrightPay offers a free licence to micro businesses?
BrightPay offers a free employer licence to businesses with up to three employees which includes payslip and auto enrolment functionality? Also, our standard employer licence is just £99 + VAT per tax year. BrightPay has a 99% customer satisfaction rate.
Download free 60-day trial | Book a demo
More for bureaus -
Payroll for bureaus: From loss leader to profit centre
New technologies can positively impact the way bureaus offer payroll services. There are several exciting developments that are happening right now in the cloud. Be ready to offer a new level of payroll and HR services by embracing new-world online technologies.
Free CPD Webinar - The Future of Auto Enrolment
Auto enrolment has well and truly evolved since the rollout began in 2012. There are a number of changes coming over the next 12 months that payroll bureaus need to be aware of, including instant duties for new employers, increases in minimum contribution rates and automatic re-enrolment.
Accountants are making the big switch to BrightPay
BrightPay has been operating in the UK since 2012. Year on year, more accountants are moving payroll providers to BrightPay for several reasons. You may ask yourself, why are so many accountants and payroll bureaus moving to BrightPay.
The benefits of offering cloud payroll services
The payroll landscape is changing and many payroll bureaus are offering clients a certain level of cloud functionality that automates otherwise time consuming tasks. Online access to payroll information for your clients and their employees offers significant benefits for today's bureau which can will streamline many workforce management tasks.
Aug 2017
21
Customer Update: August 2017
BrightPay Customer Survey: The Results are in
In our recent survey, we were delighted to discover that our customer satisfaction rate has slightly improved since last year from 99.2% to 99.8%. The satisfaction rate for BrightPay’s customer support is 98.6% which is also an improvement on last year.
Employers warned by The Pensions Regulator regarding Fake Exemption Certificates
Employers are being made aware of an apparent scam of exemption certificates for automatic enrolment purposes being offered by at least one company. An investigation is being undertaken by The Pensions Regulator into this company offering what is described as 'Certificates of Auto Enrolment Exemption' to employers.
Bright Contracts Webinar: Keeping your business compliant with Employment Law
As busy employers it can be difficult to keep up-to-date with the constant changes in employment law. In this webinar we discuss what is new in employment law, give you key facts about the legislation that you need to know and highlight areas that will help ensure your business remains compliant.
News for Bureaus
Watch our latest video to see how BrightPay Connect can benefit your payroll bureau
BrightPay Connect our latest cloud add-on works alongside BrightPay Payroll. Payroll information is stored in the cloud and can be accessed online by you and your clients anywhere. BrightPay Connect offers additional innovative payroll and HR features that will enhance client relationships and increase revenue for your bureau.
Free CPD Auto Enrolment Webinars with NEST, Workplace Pensions Direct, Aviva & Pension PlayPen
Join BrightPay and our guest speakers to understand what the future holds for auto enrolment covering re-enrolment, auto enrolment and new employer's, Basic PAYE tools and all you NEED to know about choosing a pension scheme. Registration is free.
New Employers & Auto Enrolment
From the 1st of October 2017, clients who become an employer for the first time will immediately have AE duties to complete for any staff they employ. Worryingly, according to research conducted by The Pensions Regulator (TPR), 49%, almost half of accountants asked did not know that new employers would have AE duties.
Find out more Register for free CPD webinar
News for Employers
Watch our latest video to see how BrightPay Connect can improve your annual leave processing
BrightPay Connect our latest cloud add-on works alongside BrightPay Payroll. Payroll information is stored in the cloud and can be accessed online by you and your employees. BrightPay Connect offers additional innovative payroll and HR features that streamline your annual leave management and payroll processing.
Understanding your Declaration of Compliance
An employer's declaration of compliance is one of the most important automatic enrolment duties and it should not be left until the last minute. It is never too early to start preparing. This blog will take you through the various steps employers will need to understand to successfully complete their Declaration of Compliance.
Proposed State Pension Age Changes: How will it affect you?
Under current legislation, the State Pension age increase from 67 to 68 is to be phased in between the years 2044 and 2046. The Government, however, now plan to implement this increase seven years earlier. Should this proposed change go ahead, this means that the State Pension age will thus increase to 68 between 2037 and 2039 instead.
Oct 2016
6
Are you up to date with family friendly leave?
Family friendly leave has developed significantly in recent years. Keeping abreast of what’s what can be challenging for employers.
BrightPay’s employment law experts have designed a free webinar for employers, which will give attendees an overview of Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental Leave and Parental Leave how to process them directly through payroll.
The webinar will highlight frequently asked questions in relation to the leave types mentioned above, such as:
- Who is eligible?
- How employees apply?
- Pay and other benefits during family friendly leave.
- Managing family friendly leave efficiently and legally!
The webinar will give attendees a chance to ask any questions you may have, with an interactive Q&A session at the end of the webinar.
Places are limited for this webinar. Don’t miss out – book your place now!
If you cannot attend the webinar, don't worry – the webinar will be recorded and as long as you have registered you will receive a link to the recording afterwards.
Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.
