Opinion
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OpinionNick Bustin: What are the benefits of pension salary sacrifice schemes?
Pension salary sacrifice schemes are not a new concept, but one that all employers should consider, especially at a time where the tax burden on both employers and employees is high. These schemes, which see employees sacrifice some of their monthly salary in return for increased employer pension contributions, are ...
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OpinionProfessor Peter Wells: There’s never been a better time for employers to go electric
There has never been a better time for employers to encourage electric car ownership, or for employees to appreciate the benefits.There are major savings to be had for individuals, including with the plug-in car grant, benefit in kind, and salary sacrifice schemes, while several car manufacturers are offering to help ...
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OpinionMark Ormston: Key considerations to introducing a salary sacrifice pension scheme
When introducing a salary sacrifice pension scheme, early engagement with payroll is key, as it is vital to involve them as soon as possible in the discussions. An employer may discover the systems or software currently being used have certain limitations or missing functionality to meet desired requirements.Employers should consider ...
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OpinionPaul Hollick: The future of staff travel schemes
Prior to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, mobility was beginning to gain pace as a form of business travel. This took the form of staff travel schemes based around a mobility allowance offering a wide range of options that were not just trains and other forms of public transport, but car ...
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OpinionMatthew Potter: What are the impacts from Iceland's minimum wage non-compliance case?
According to the national minimum wage regulations, a salary sacrifice scheme that brings the gross pay of a salaried employee below the minimum wage threshold is technically a breach, attracting fines and a requirement to put employees back into the position they should have been in, had the sums not ...
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OpinionJonathan Watts-Lay: Ensuring the savings effort pays off
Nearly half (46%) of all UK adults rate their own knowledge about financial matters as low and almost a quarter (24%) have little or no confidence in managing their money, according to the Financial Conduct Authority's Understanding the financial lives of UK adults report, published in October 2017.The impact of ...
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OpinionAoife Hamilton: Childcare vouchers and family-friendly ways to promote a healthy work-life balance
It is important to understand the challenges parents face in achieving their desired work-life balance.Striking the Balance: the impact becoming a parent has on working life, employment and career, a survey of 4,200 parents from across Northern Ireland published by Employers for Childcare in October 2016, revealed that 91% found ...
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OpinionSusan Ball: Employers need to review optional remuneration arrangements now
Many employers remain unaware of the change in rules covering flexible benefits and salary sacrifice, or cash alternative arrangements from 6 April 2017. With many questions unanswered, correct filing of 2017-2018 P11Ds is going to be difficult.Under the new rules, where a benefit is selected, a tax and national insurance ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Is government backtracking on tax-free childcare?
On Tuesday (13 March), the government announced that it is to delay the closure of workplace childcare voucher schemes by six months, extending the April deadline for employees to sign up to a scheme.Since it was announced that childcare vouchers would be phased out to make way for the government’s ...
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OpinionJohn Pryor: Employers need to look at the total cost of mobility as staff travel options unify
Employee travel choices for business journeys have never been more numerous than they are today.Consequently, the opportunities for employers to implement a diverse, multi-faceted, sustainable mobility plan and simultaneously display corporate social responsibility have never been greater.Travel options range from the established, such as cars, whether organisation-provided, a hire car ...
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OpinionCrowley Woodford: Take stock of benefits strategies in light of upcoming changes
Employee benefit offerings come in all shapes and sizes. At one end of the spectrum, there are the traditional employee benefits such as contributions to an employee's pension scheme, childcare vouchers, and subsidised gym membership, and at the other end there are wine clubs, unlimited holiday allowances, and free-bacon Thursdays.With ...
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OpinionSusan Ball: What do the changes to salary sacrifice mean for employers?
With publication of the Finance Bill, the final legislation around changes to salary sacrifice is now available, and considerably more pages have been added. Given the volume of additional legislative text, coupled with the short timeframe between publication and the 6 April 2017 effective date, employers face significant practical difficulties ...
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OpinionKevin Gude: Salary sacrifice changes risk turning certain health benefits into luxuries
The forthcoming changes to salary sacrifice rules, in particular, the effect on health screening and other medical benefits, reflect a carelessly fragmented attitude towards the nation’s wellbeing and fitness. As the NHS struggles to meet the needs of an ageing, increasingly long-living but unfit population, the Treasury is withdrawing its ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Is the abolition of salary sacrifice actually an opportunity?
This week’s Autumn Statement brought months of speculation to an end when Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the tax and NI advantages on benefits offered via salary sacrifice will be abolished from April next year.Contrary to many reports in the national press over the last week or so, this was ...
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OpinionGeorge Bull: Salary sacrifice can benefit both employer and employee
Salary sacrifice arrangements are very simple, highly effective and potentially beneficial to both employee and employer. It is almost too good to be true.At the heart of a salary sacrifice arrangement is an agreement between an employer and an employee to change the terms of the employment contract to reduce ...
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OpinionDavid Hosking: Dispelling key myths about salary sacrifice car schemes
Salary sacrifice car schemes are a tax-efficient way to offer staff a brand new, fully insured and maintained car as part of a flexible benefits package.Schemes are tax-compliantAt its most basic and simple level, a salary sacrifice car scheme allows employers to ‘pay’ their staff with a company car, with ...
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OpinionClaire Evans: Designing and marketing an effective car salary sacrifice scheme
Making company cars available to all employees via a salary sacrifice scheme is a popular way for organisations to enhance benefits packages.Lease providers should offer their expertise and support to employers considering a salary sacrifice scheme at every stage of the process, from initial policy designs through to a campaign ...
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OpinionAndrew Kirby: Relationships are at the heart of future car schemes
During the economic downturn, one of the main attractions of a salary sacrifice car scheme from an employer’s perspective was its ability to help with recruiting, retaining, motivating and engaging employees at no cost to the business.Now the economy is growing and employment opportunities are increasing, the battle to recruit ...
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OpinionJohn Pryor: Fleet funding models must suit employers' needs
Funding is bespoke to individual organisations and while tax changes can trigger a switch in funding routes so can alterations in an organisation’s status and attitude.These include, for example, its ability to borrow money and its own cash situation, its attitude to financial risk and its level of internal fleet ...
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Opinion
Alastair Kendrick: Employers seek solutions to rising fuel costs
Some of the ideas that are being explored include permitting more home working with better IT capability, which enables employees working at home to Skype/video conference into meetings, removing the need for them travel to the office.Employers may also allow staff that do need to travel in to work to ...