Jun 2022
27
NI Threshold increases on 6th July: What to do
It can be difficult to keep on top of payroll updates and changes to compliance. Using a payroll software which takes care of these updates for you can save you a lot of time in the long run. Thankfully, BrightPay Payroll Software is updated to cater for all regulatory changes to ensure you stay compliant. This will save you time and eliminate the headache that comes with manually processing payroll.
The UK Government announced in March that the National Insurance thresholds will increase from 6th July, this means that employees and self-employed people will pay National Insurance contributions on less of their income or profits. HMRC has made clear that all payroll software providers must ensure that their software is updated to reflect these increased NI thresholds. If your payroll software is not up-to-date, HMRC requests that you do not run your payroll until your payroll software has taken account of the changes.
What changes were made to National Insurance Contribution rates?
National Insurance Contribution rates were increased for the 2022/23 tax year by 1.25%. Contributions are to go towards the NHS, health, and social care.
Who is affected by these changes?
Any person over 16 years old who is employed and earns above £190 a week or any person who is self-employed and makes a profit of £6,725 or more a year, will be affected.
If you are a married woman or widowed (with a valid certification of election) or if you’re deferring National Insurance because you have more than one job, you will pay less National Insurance Contributions.
If you earn between £123 and £190 per week, your contributions are treated as having been paid to protect your National Insurance record.
What are the National Insurance thresholds?
Below are the monthly thresholds for employers and employees who fall into the Class 1 category.
| £ per month | 6 July 2022 to 5 April 2023 | 6 April 2022 to 5 July 2022 |
| Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) Employees do not pay National Insurance but get the benefits of paying |
£533 | £533 |
| Primary Threshold (PT) Employees start paying National Insurance |
£1,048 | £823 |
| Secondary Threshold (ST) Employers start paying National Insurance |
£758 | £758 |
| Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) All employees pay a lower rate of National Insurance above this point |
£4,189 | £4,189 |
| Upper Secondary Threshold (UST) Employers of employees who are under 21 pay zero rate up to this point |
£4,189 | £4,189 |
| Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold (AUST) Employers of certain apprentices who are under 25 pay zero rate up to this point |
£4,189 | £4,189 |
| Freeports Upper Secondary Threshold (FUST) Employers of qualifying employees working in a freeport site pay zero rate up to this point |
£2,083 | £4,189 |
| Veterans Upper Secondary Threshold (VUST) Employers of qualifying employees pay zero rate up to this point |
£4,189 | £2,083 |
If you fall into Class 2, 3 or 4, check out gov.uk, to learn more.
How to pay NIC’s
If you’re employed, your employer will deduct NIC from your wages before you get paid, your payslip will show your contributions made.
If you’re self-employed, you must pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance, depending on how much profit you make. Most people pay for this through Self-Assessment or through their payroll software. If you make less than £6,725 profit a year or have a specific job, you may be able to pay voluntary contributions to avoid gaps in your National Insurance record, as gaps can affect your State Pension.
If you’re employed and self-employed, your employer will deduct your Class 1 National Insurance from your wages, and you must pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance for your self-employed job. Depending on your combined wages, it will depend on how much National Insurance you will pay.
If you are using the most up-to-date version of BrightPay, these new thresholds have been implemented in the software. To learn more about how BrightPay can help your business stay compliant, book a free 15-minute demonstration today.
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May 2022
12
3 ways to boost job satisfaction in your workplace
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many employees have shifted their outlook in relation to the workplace. The option for remote working has given employees a greater work-life balance and employees have proven that flexibility in the workplace doesn’t need to hamper productivity. In the UK, all employees have the legal right to request flexible working, but they must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks to be eligible. Employers must deal with requests in a reasonable manner by assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application and discussing the request with the employee. If they refuse the request, employers should offer an appeal process.
3 ways to improve job satisfaction
1. Flexible working days
According to a report by the Office for National Statistics, 46% of remote workers said they spent less money as a result of remote working. In another report by Culture Shift, 54% of employees said that remote working has had a positive impact on their work-life balance, showing that remote working can have a positive effect. Thanks to having a healthier work-life balance, saving money and spending less time commuting, remote working can improve mental health as it gives your employees the option to work when and where suits them.
One difficulty employer’s may face when their employees are working remotely is managing annual leave. When employees are working different hours and from various locations, it can be difficult to implement a process that is fair and accessible to all. BrightPay Payroll Software’s cloud-extension, BrightPay Connect, allows your employees to book annual leave with ease through the employee self-service portal, at any time and from anywhere. Employees can simply book annual leave within a few clicks online or through the employee app on their smartphone, meaning they won't have to wait until they return to the office to request annual leave.
2. Training and Investment
Investing in your employees to boost their career is vital. Training or upskilling in your workplace will not only help boost employee satisfaction, but it also helps you as you will have employees with additional skill sets, who can help to grow your business.
Training staff to use HR software will allow you to delegate responsibilities amongst the team. An example of this could be training staff to use BrightPay Connect, an online payroll and HR platform. A great way to use the online platform is to allow managers from different departments to manage annual leave requests. This means less back and forth as they are the ones who will know the needs of the team best. Delegating this task using BrightPay Connect means annual leave requests can be dealt with quickly, keeping your employees happy. It also means the responsibility of dealing with requests is not all on one person.
3. Easy access to important details
As an employer, it can be a time-consuming task to keep all of your employees' details up-to date. If an employee moves house, changes their mobile number or wants to update their emergency contact, it can take time to update this information in the system. You may also have to deal with employee requests for past payslips when applying for a mortgage for example. Searching for and printing off payslips can be a tedious task that delays you from taking care of other important duties.
BrightPay’s cloud-extension, BrightPay Connect takes away the headache of manually searching for payslips and updating employee information. BrightPay Connect offers a seamless way for your employees to update their details via the BrightPay Connect employee self-service app, through an internet browser or their smartphone. In addition, you can send payslips each pay period from the payroll software, directly to BrightPay Connect.
Implementing these changes in the workplace can improve employee satisfaction and boost morale within your business. In remote environments, it is important to keep on top of employee well-being and offer as much support to them as you can. Why not book a free 20 minute demo on how BrightPay Connect can help support you and your employees today.
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Mar 2022
31
World Backup Day – Protect and Secure Your Data
As technology advances, cyber-attacks and loss of data are becoming more frequent. According to the UK Government, 39% of businesses and 26% of charities have experienced cyber-attacks between 2020 and 2021. This highlights the importance of data backups and how awareness of World Backup Day could help save your business from losing important data.
What is World Backup Day?
For businesses that already back up and secure their data, World Backup Day, which takes place on 31st March, is a gentle reminder to continue doing so, and to make sure that your data is being stored properly.
For those who have never heard of this day, its purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of backing up your data on a regular basis. Ultimately, businesses that don’t back up and secure their data will not only pay the price of the loss of important files, but they may also pay a heavy price financially. According to a recent survey, businesses spent on average, £8,460 annually as a result of cyber security breaches.
What could happen if you don’t backup your data
Not backing up your data can result in the following consequences:
- Loss of valuable time
- Potential loss of money
- Losing your client’s valuable data
The backing up of your data has never been more important, especially as cyber threats are growing more sophisticated. In previous years, data loss often meant a device of yours was stolen or your device was broken (e.g., water spilled on your laptop), which led to your device being unusable. These days, while these situations are still a worry, the main concern of losing data is that devices can be either hacked by a person or a group of people who may hold your data for ransom, or your device can get a virus which essentially damages it.
How to protect your data working from home
According to Microsoft, 38% of people in the UK are working in a hybrid environment (working from home and in the office). Therefore, how do you protect your employees who work from home and the data they share with others? Payroll software provider, BrightPay, has a cloud-based extension called BrightPay Connect, which is carried out on a safe channel with maximum security. Thus, offering you peace of mind, knowing your data is safe and secure, wherever you may be.
What is BrightPay Connect?
BrightPay Connect is a cloud extension that links to BrightPay’s payroll software. Essentially, BrightPay Connect is a secure and user-friendly way to back up and store your payroll data. BrightPay Connect automatically backs up your payroll data every 15 minutes and once again when you close down the file, making sure all updates to your data are saved.
To add to BrightPay Connect’s fantastic features, there is also a mobile app available for employees. From here, employees can book annual leave, access payslips, and view any documents you wish to share with them through the app.
There are plenty of features BrightPay Connect has to offer, but most importantly our priority is keeping your data safe and secure. Things like data injection, authentication hacking, cross site scripting, exposure flaws, request forgery and many other types of vulnerabilities are protected. Whilst we have security measures in place to protect your data, it remains your responsibility to keep your sign-in details secret, to sign out of BrightPay when you are not using it and to ensure there is no unauthorised access to your computer.
Finally, BrightPay Connect uses one of the world’s leading cloud-computing platforms, Microsoft Azure to securely store data. We have also introduced IP whitelisting, meaning that knowing the login credentials is not enough, the request must come from a trusted location. Overall, this automated service saves you time backing up your data and gives you peace of mind knowing it is stored in a reliable place.
BrightPay Connect offers free live demonstrations that run through the features in real-time. If you wish to take a closer look and learn more about keeping your data safe, book a demo.
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