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  • Supporting mental health at work

    2817455C-98F1-4E72-9769-8E9C7D242422Information from ACAS

    Employers have a ‘duty of care’. This means they must do all they reasonably can to support their employees’ health, safety and wellbeing.

    If an employee has a mental health issue, it’s important their employer takes it seriously. For example, it’s a good idea to talk to the employee to find out what support they might need at work.

    There are many types of mental health issue. An issue can happen suddenly, because of a specific event in someone’s life, or it can build up gradually over time.

    Common mental health issues include:

    • stress (this is not classed as a medical condition but it can still have a serious impact on wellbeing)
    • depression
    • anxiety

    Less common ones include:

    • bipolar disorder
    • schizophrenia

    Creating a supportive environment

    It’s helpful if employers create an environment where staff feel able to talk openly about mental health.

    For example:

    • treating mental and physical health as equally important
    • making sure employees have regular one-to-ones with their managers, to talk about any problems they’re having
    • encouraging positive mental health, for example arranging mental health awareness training, workshops or appointing mental health ‘champions’ who staff can talk to

    Employers can find out more about promoting positive mental health at work, including:

    • understanding mental health 
    • creating a mental health strategy
    • educating the workforce 

    More information can be found here

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  • What happens if you do not report payroll information on time

    D55F3A85-4C8C-4000-8482-9D1DEE8C5C44When penalties are charged

    You can get a penalty if:

    HMRC will not charge a penalty if:

    • your FPS is late but all reported payments on the FPS are within 3 days of your employees’ payday, however employers who regularly file after the payment date but within 3 days may be contacted or considered for a penalty
    • you’re a new employer and you sent your first FPS within 30 days of paying an employee
    • it’s your first failure in the tax year to send a report on time (this does not apply to employers who register with HMRC as an annual scheme)

    How much you pay

    What you pay depends on how many employees you have.

    Number of employees Monthly penalty
    1 to 9 £100
    10 to 49 £200
    50 to 249 £300
    250 or more £400

    If you run more than one PAYE scheme, you can be charged penalties for each.

    How we estimate what you owe

    HMRC may raise a specified charge based on an estimate of how much we think you should pay if you do not:

    • submit your FPS on time
    • tell HMRC, by sending an EPS, that you have not paid any employees

    This is based on your previous PAYE payment and filing history. You’ll be able to see any specified charge by looking at your PAYE account online.

    A specified charge does not replace the need for you to send your FPS or EPS. Only submitting the missing FPS or EPS for each month will:

    • replace the charges with the amount that is due for each month
    • support an appeal you make against a late filing penalty

    If you send updated year-to-date figures in your next FPS instead, the specified charges will remain in place. However, your accounting record will be adjusted to reflect the year-to-date figures given in the later month.

    If you get a penalty

    HMRC sends penalty notices every quarter. A notice will include:

    If you pay the penalty within 30 days of getting the notice you will not be charged interest.

    You can appeal if you think:

    • the penalty is not due
    • the amount of the penalty is wrong
    • you had a reasonable excuse for sending your reports late

    Reasons you can give for grounds of appeal are:

    • data on the returns was incorrect
    • death or bereavement
    • filing expectation incorrect
    • filed on time
    • fire, flood or natural disaster
    • ill health
    • IT difficulty
    • missed correction or easement
    • no longer have any employees
    • no payments to employees
    • theft or crime
    • other – only use this option if your reason for appeal does not fall into any of the categories in the online system

    More information can be found here

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  • Insolvency and Redundancy Payments

    Insolvent jpegPreviously, if your employer became insolvent, and you were therefore made redundant, you used to have to go to an employment tribunal to claim all redundancy payments, but now you can apply direct to the government’s  Insolvency Service for the money that you are owed.

    How to claim for redundancy and other money you’re owed by an employer

    To apply, you must complete the online application. The Insolvency Service will then assess your claim and pay you the money you’re entitled to.

    Separate payments are made for different parts of your claim, such as redundancy pay, holiday pay and arrears of pay. You will then be sent a letter each time that the Insolvency Service makes a payment. This means that you may get several different letters from the Insolvency Service.

    Further Government Guidance

    If you were made redundant on or after 6 April 2021, your weekly pay is capped at £544. If you were made redundant before 6 April 2021, these amounts will be lower. This means if your gross weekly pay was more than this, we have capped each one of your payments.

    If you are owed more than the maximum we can pay, you can register as a creditor in the insolvency for any outstanding money you’re owed.

    Further details can be found here

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  • Employment Contracts

    Employment Contract jpegAll employees have an employment contract with their employer. A contract is an agreement that sets out an employee’s:

    • employment conditions
    • rights
    • responsibilities
    • duties

    These are called the ‘terms’ of the contract.

    Employees and employers must stick to a contract until it ends (for example, by an employer or employee giving notice or an employee being dismissed) or until the terms are changed (usually by agreement between the employee and employer).

    Accepting a contract

    As soon as someone accepts a job offer they have a contract with their employer. An employment contract does not have to be written down.

    A contract between an employer and an employee or worker is a legally binding agreement. This could be a ‘contract of employment’ or a ‘contract of service’.

    A contract can be agreed verbally or in writing.

    What an employer must provide in writing

    Anyone legally classed as an employee or worker has the right to a written document summarising the main terms of their employment.

    Those legally classed as workers do not have the right to written terms if they started the job before 6 April 2020.

    The legal term for this document is the ‘written statement of employment particulars’. It includes information such as pay and working hours.

    This document is often referred to as the ’employment contract’. But by law, the employment contract is broader than just these written terms – for example, employment law is also part of an employee’s contract but usually the law will not be written in full in the document.

    Contract terms

    The legal parts of a contract are known as ‘terms’. An employer should make clear which parts of a contract are legally binding (for example, an employer must pay employees at least the National Minimum Wage)

    More detailed information can be found here on the ACAS site, and here on the Government website

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  • Shared Parental Leave and Pay

    Parents and children jpegHow it works

    You and your partner may be able to get Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) if you’re:

    • having a baby
    • using a surrogate to have a baby
    • adopting a child

    You can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay between you.

    You need to share the pay and leave in the first year after your child is born or placed with your family.

    You can use SPL to take leave in blocks separated by periods of work, or take it all in one go. You can also choose to be off work together or to stagger the leave and pay.

    To get SPL and ShPP, you and your partner need to:

    Eligibility for birth parents

    To be eligible for Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP), both parents must:

    • share responsibility for the child at birth
    • meet work and pay criteria – these are different depending on which parent wants to use the shared parental leave and pay

    You’re not eligible if you started sharing responsibility for the child after it was born.

    More details and information can be found here

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  • Paying an employee after giving them a P45

    You need to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) when one of your employees leaves or retires, and deduct and pay the right tax and National Insurance.

    You must give your employee a P45 when they leave.

    Paying an employee after giving them a P45

    If you have to pay an employee after they leave (including someone you’re giving a taxable redundancy payment over £30,000):

    • use tax code 0T on a ‘week 1’ or ‘month 1’ basis (use the code S0T if they’re taxed at the Scottish rate or C0T if they’re taxed at the Welsh rate)
    • deduct National Insurance (unless it’s a redundancy payment) and any student loan repayments as normal – but if it’s an ‘irregular’ payment like accrued holiday pay or an unexpected bonus, treat it as a weekly payment
    • report the payment and deductions in your next FPS, using the employee’s original ‘Date of leaving’ and payroll ID, and set the ‘Payment after leaving’ indicator
    • give the employee written confirmation of the payment showing the gross amount and deductions
    • add the additional payment in the ‘Year to date’ field if the payment is in the same tax year

    The payment should be the only one in the ‘Year to date’ field if it’s being paid in the next tax year.

    You must not give the employee another P45

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  • Keeping Up To Date

    checklistWe’ve put together a checklist for you to help you to keep up to date with all your responsibilities. Hope you will find it useful!  Don’t forget that we are here to guide you through if you need any help!

    Have you:

    • filed your Charity Commission Annual Return?
    • had your annual accounts examined?

    If you are a charitable company, have you –

    • filed your annual accounts with Companies House?
    • checked when you should complete your Companies House annual return?
    • NO REMINDERS ARE SENT OUT THESE DAYS!
    Have you:
    • registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office re Data Protection Fees?
    • checked when your insurance is up for renewal?
    • planned how to continue delivering services under conditions of COVID?
    • established working from home procedures, and will you need to change contracts of employment?
    • thought about how you will recruit new trustees and hold meetings?
    • started preparing your annual budget? If you need any help, do contact DCAS
     …..and finally – don’t forget to feel a sense of pride for all the work your charity does, and the important role charities play in the life of Derby!
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  • Christmas Holidays

    Christmas 2021jpeg

    Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas

    and a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

    from all of us at DCAS

    Our office will close for the holidays on Friday 24th December 2021, and will re-open on Tuesday 4th January 2022

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  • Safeguarding and protecting people

    Charity Commission LogoProtecting people and safeguarding responsibilities should be a governance priority for all charities. It is a fundamental part of operating as a charity for the public benefit.

    As part of fulfilling your trustee duties, whether working online or in person, you must take reasonable steps to protect from harm people who come into contact with your charity.

    This includes:

    • people who benefit from your charity’s work
    • staff
    • volunteers
    • other people who come into contact with your charity through its work

    10 actions trustee boards need to take to ensure good safeguarding governance

    Click on the picture below

    10 Actions Safeguarding

    More detailed information and advice can be found here

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