Category: payroll

SMP Statutory Maternity Pay

Holiday pay

Employees accrue holiday entitlement as normal throughout the maternity leave and this includes any bank holidays that may fall during that leave and this is a cost to the employer.

Any such holiday accrued is normally either taken or paid for at the end of the leave.

Antenatal classes

Employees are entitled to paid time off to attend these and except from the first appointment you can request proof of this.

If possible they should arrange these appointments at times she is not working although if full time employee this may not be possible.

Keeping in Touch Days

Employees are entitled up to 10 days classed as keeping in touch and any days worked are paid in addition to any paid SMP and is at a cost to the employer.

These days can be used for work and irrespective of the hours worked each day it is classed as a full day for Keeping in Touch purposes.

Pension

If employee contributing to pension when they go maternity leave their pension contributions will be based on the SMP paid, but the employers contributions need to remain at the same level they were on before the maternity leave started.

For example if the employers contribution was £15.00 then irrespective of the SMP paid the employers contribution would remain at the £15.00 throughout the maternity leave.

 

SMP Statutory Maternity Pay

All nannies are entitled to take up to 1 year off for maternity leave whether paid or unpaid.

How much SMP does employee get?

Of the 1-year entitlement nanny only gets paid for the first 39 weeks and should she take further 13 weeks off these are unpaid.

1st 6 weeks are paid at 90% of employee’s gross salary.

Remaining 33 weeks are paid at £148.68 or the 90% figure whichever is the lower amount.

Qualification for SMP

Nanny needs to have been employed by you 41 weeks before her due date.

Nanny needs to be earning above the lower earnings limit £118.00 gross per week.

Nanny needs to still be in your employ 15 weeks before her due date.

Processing SMP

Nanny will be issued form MATB1 from her Doctor or Midwife this form will have the due date and from this due date you can then determine whether she qualifies for SMP or not, if not you then need to issue nanny with form SMP1, so she can then claim maternity allowance directly from the state.

Cost of SMP

Small employers can usually claim back 103% of any SMP, this is 100% of the SMP itself and an additional 3% compensation to help towards cost of employers NI.

(ShPP) Shared Parental Leave

Expectant parents can now share the 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave after the birth or adoption of their child.

​​This leave and statutory pay can be split between them either one after the other or both can be on leave at the same time.

​​Expectant parents need to give each of their employers an indicative breakdown of the leave they plan to take at least 8 weeks before it starts. They are then able to change their minds twice during the year of leave and put forward new proposals.

​​This is paid at the same rate of SMP and is based on the salary of the parent taking the leave.

​​To be eligible both parents must share responsibility for the child at birth. and they must meet the work and pay criteria, i.e. have been employed continuously by the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the due date, still be employed by the same employer while they take the leave and earn on average at least £118.00 gross per week

​Notice periods are built in to the scheme so employers can make plans for the nanny’s intentions for leave.

Employers cannot refuse to grant any leave entitled, however they can refuse requests for separate non continuous blocks of leave and insist that all leave requested is taken in one block.

​​Both parents are entitled to Keeping in Touch days.

SSP Statutory Sick Pay

All nannies are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), as long as they earn over the lower earnings limit of £118 a week and give you the correct notice.

SSP is paid to nannies on the 4th consecutive working day off and the first 3 working days are classed as waiting days and any salary for these 3 days are paid at employers discretion, unless they have something specific in the contract regarding paid sickness.

If a nanny has more than one job then she is entitled to SSP from each employer should she qualify.

Nanny must provide a Doctor’s fit note if she is off sick for more than 7 days in a row, for first 7 days they can self-certify.

How much is SSP

For this tax year, 2019/20 SSP it is £94.25 per week. Nanny can get SSP up to 28 weeks.

As of the start of the 2014/15 tax year the Government abolished any compensation on SSP for small employers and this is now a cost to the employer.

Nannies do not qualify

If they have already had 28 weeks of SSP paid.

Have already taken 3 or more years ‘linked periods of sickness – where 4 or more days of sickness happen within 8 weeks of each other.

Receiving other statutory payments (SMP for example).

Nanny may be able to apply for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if she is not entitled to SSP with you or has had 28 weeks of SSP. In order to apply for this, you must give nanny a SSP1 form.

 

Career Breaks

Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk  provide payroll advice for parents and have created this content.

There are no laws that deal specifically with taking a career break – it is only an agreement between the employer and the employee.

Employers don’t have to offer career breaks. If they do, the policy must be clearly laid out (eg in a staff handbook) and should cover things like:

  • eligibility and notice periods
  • how to apply and how long is allowed
  • if the employment contract’s terms and conditions continue – eg qualifying for pay increases

Employees can make arrangements to return to work after a career break, but these agreements are not legally binding, and it could mean ending the existing contract of employment

Jury Service

Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk  provide payroll advice for parents and have created this content.

All employees must be allowed to take time off for jury service.

Employers can choose to pay staff for time taken off, but they do not have to.

The Court will pay the employee for the time spent on Jury service and employee will be given a statement of earnings notification which employee then gets employer to complete and then give to Court to claim for loss of earnings.

If employer chooses to pay employee whilst on Jury service, then it would be expected that the employee then repays the employer any payments from the Court that they receive for loss of earnings.

Alternatively, an employer can if they wish, but not obliged to do so, top up the employees earnings they receive from the Court.

Nannies and Mobile Phones

Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk  provide payroll advice for parents and have created this content.

A lot of parents are becoming increasingly concerned regarding nannies and their use of mobile devices when they should be concentrating on their job, which of course is looking after the children in their care.

People generally, not just nannies, seem to spend a lot of their time on mobile devices whether texting friends or checking their social media apps.

Some parents are now putting a clause in the nanny contract limiting the amount of use a mobile phone or even supplying nanny with a work mobile phone and then nanny not permitted to use their personal mobile.

We would perhaps suggest erring on the side of caution as nanny may feel that if implemented you are not trusting them entirely.

Nanny-State Pension Age

Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk  provide payroll advice for parents and have created this content.

What happens when nanny reaches state pension age

If nanny reaches state pension age, she will then not have to pay employees NI, this then increases the amount of money she will then take home in her pocket if she is on a gross wage.

If nanny is on a net wage, then the employer will then get the benefit of employee then not paying NI and will then see a reduction in the overall total cost each pay period.

Nanny and Sleepovers

Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk  provide payroll advice for parents and have created this content.

If you are thinking of going away for the weekend, and have asked nanny to look after the children, should you pay her national minimum wage while she sleeps?

The court of appeal in July 2018 has stated you need to be awake for the purposes of working to qualify for national minimum wage.

This Judgement is likely to be appealed but as it stands the below will apply.

Once the nanny has been woken up, then national minimum applies.

If nanny is going to do sleep ins, it would be advised to agree a flat rate, and then in addition to that a rate for when nanny is awake.

 

https://www.moorepay.co.uk/blog/court-of-appeal-reverses-pay-decision-in-sleep-in-workers-saga/

Nanny believes she has paid too much in tax

Our recommended partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for
parents and have created this content.
Parents, nanny may come to you as the employer, and claim she believes she has been
paying too much tax in either the current tax year or previous years.
If relating to previous tax years it is best for nanny to contact HMRC directly by writing to
them with an explanation of why she thinks she has paid too much tax and she should
enclose relevant P60’s for the tax years involved. If it is then the case that she has overpaid
tax in a previous year HMRC would then issue a cheque directly to her.
If nanny believes she is paying too much tax for the current tax year, it is advisable that she
first contacts the employers payroll provider, such as us here at payroll4nannies to see if
they can help or she will need to call HMRC direct on 0300 200 3300 and will need to quote
her national insurance number and have other personal information to hand. HMRC will
issue a revised tax code if incorrect to the employer and any tax then previously overpaid in
this tax year would be repaid through the employer.