The number of job vacancies is currently at a new record high, indicating that the labour market is still yet to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.Between 4th-10th October there were a record 2.29 million job adverts available in the UK. In the same week, there were around 235,000 new job postings – the second-highest weekly figure since data began.Wales is currently a hotspot for hiring, with four out of the UK’s top 10 most active cities for new jobs. Swansea in particular saw … [Read more...]
Self-employed pension savings at a low
HMRC have released figures that reveal self-employed pension savings have hit record lows across 2019/2020. Since 2012 to 2013, non-eligible employee participation has increased to 34%. However, this has declined for the self-employed to 16%.In 2019/20 self-employed people paid around £830m into their personal pensions. Though, this figure is down from the £1.15bn paid in the previous year.It is thought that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this figure would have reduced even further … [Read more...]
Could IR35 be responsible for the UK’s HGV driver shortage?
Food shortages, petrol crisis, the last few months in the UK have been challenging for a number of Brits. A lot of the recent issues are down to a shortage of HGV drivers. It’s estimated that Britain needs an additional 100,000 drivers to ease pressures.The COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit are being blamed for the shortage of drivers. However, new research from the Road Haulage Association (RHA) reveals that recent tax changes could partly be to blame.For those that aren’t familiar with it, … [Read more...]
PM announces rise in National Insurance tax
Boris Johnson has announced a UK-wide “health and social care levy” to support reforms of the care sector and NHS funding in England. The new scheme will start as a 1.25% rise in National Insurance from April 2022. However, then become a separate tax on earned income from April 2023.The plan was today signed off by ministers at a cabinet meeting, despite earlier disputes from Tory MPs.The PM has said the aim is to raise a total of £36 billion over the next few years for frontline … [Read more...]
Calls for Universal Credit uplift to be made permanent
Ministers from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have called the UK Government to make the Universal Credit uplift a permanent change.As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government introduced a £20 per week uplift to support low income families. However, this scheme is now set to be scrapped as of October. There are growing concerns about the impact this will have on poverty and the hardship families will face.Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (a charity which … [Read more...]
If you work from home then you may be eligible to claim HMRC Tax Relief in 2021 / 2022
If you work from home on the instruction of your employer, incurred additional expenses as a result thereof, you may be eligible to claim tax relief from HMRC. In 2020/2021 the HMRC received in excess of 3 million claims for tax relief. According to GOV.UK more than 500k people have claimed and are benefitting from ‘working from home tax relief’ this year already. If an employed worker has been instructed to work from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has incurred expenses as a … [Read more...]
Employee Experience the focus of Post-Covid Business: How prepared is your business?
Many employers are making sincere changes to their businesses in order to incorporate the increasingly popular Hybrid Working Model and prioritise Employee Mental Wellbeing. The UK Government's initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to impose a countrywide lockdown, enforcing workers to work remotely from home where possible. Businesses as a result, had to adjust and comply with new regulations for the safety of its workers.Subsequently, the effects of lockdown has now … [Read more...]
Future of Lockdown: UK Government Guidelines
A paper published by the House of Commons on April 2nd, 2021, outlines the rules around COVID-19 and returning to work. Here is a brief summary which outlines lockdown legislation, employer’s health and safety obligations and when workers can refuse to work.Download full report here.In late March 2020, the UK Government imposed a National lockdown in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic that swept the country. Government imposed rules that prohibited people from going to … [Read more...]
HMRC’s new Taskforce clamps down on fraud and exploitation of COVID-19 relief schemes
With losses escalating to £1 billion per week, the extent of this exploitation equates to the “biggest fraud in British history”, David Clarke, Chairman of the COVID-19 Fraud Watch Task Force. Since the start of the pandemic, the government has forked out in excess of £54 billion towards COVID-19 relief schemes to support businesses and individuals across the UK. Among these Government initiatives include:The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) otherwise known as Furlough … [Read more...]
Furlough – the good, the bad and the misleading
With many temporary and agency staff not being able to continue to work as usual during the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen a significant number of changes within the sector from recruitment agencies not wanting to operate internal PAYE and choosing to outsource entire books of workers, to contractors choosing alternative career paths to remain in employment. It’s fair to say the pandemic has caused some questions around how payroll providers can continue to support those affected by these … [Read more...]