Oct 2019
25
Cloud HR Platforms – Making Compliance as simple as 1,2,3
As an employer, when it comes to your new employees, you must give a written statement of 5 core terms of employment within 5 days of starting employment (also known as a Day 5 Statement).
These 5 terms are:
- The full name of employer and employee
- The address of the employer
- The expected duration of the employment contract
- The method of calculating or rate of pay
- The expected normal working day and week
Employees must receive the remaining terms in writing within 2 months of starting work. Penalties for non-compliance are up to €5,000 fine and in extreme cases a potential prison sentence!
Nowadays, you don’t have to worry about how to get documents to your new employees. There is an easier, more powerful way to share your employee contracts. Thanks to Cloud HR Platforms, compliance is as easy as 1,2,3!
- Create a contract of employment for your new employee, making sure to include the core terms of employment.
- Ensure that your new employee has access to the employee portal for your company’s Cloud HR Platform
- Upload their completed contract to the Cloud and move on to getting to know your new hire!
That’s it! You are now fully compliant, following best practice recommendations and safe in the knowledge that your employees have received the information you need them to have!
With BrightPay Connect, employers can securely and seamlessly distribute documents to employees via their employee self-service app. Book a demo today to discover more ways that BrightPay Connect can keep you compliant.
Oct 2019
22
Parent’s Leave & Benefit Bill... Some paid leave is on the way for all new parents!
The Government is working on a range of changes to help parents spend more quality time with their children. Last week, they published the new Parent's Leave and Benefit Bill 2019. This Bill is expected to be enacted on or before 1st November 2019.
So what is this….?
The new Parent’s Leave & Benefit Bill introduces the concept of paid parent's leave for employees for the first time in Ireland. Originally called the ‘Parental Leave & Benefit Bill’, this has had a name change to the Parent’s Leave & Benefit bill to clearly differentiate parent's leave from parental leave (which is a separate entitlement!).
What’s included in the new Bill?
- Parents will be able to take two weeks paid parents leave for any child born / adopted on or after 1st November 2019. The leave must be used before the child’s first birthday. In the case of multiple births, a parent will only be able to claim parents leave once.
- It is available to both parents and it can be taken as a continuous period of two weeks or in two separate one week blocks.
- An employee needs to give their employer six weeks' notice of when they want to take the leave, stating the expected start date and the duration.
- Employers are allowed postpone the parent's leave in situations where taking the leave would have a substantial adverse effect on the operation of the employer's business. Employers however cannot postpone the leave for more than 12 weeks.
- Parents receive a statutory payment of €245 per week (they need the necessary PRSI contributions to qualify!).
The Bill does not require employers to pay employees while on parent's leave. It will be up to each employer to decide if they want to top-up an employee's parent's benefit and, if so, by how much. The advice would be to be consistent with approaches taken on the other family leave types.
Company policies should be reviewed and updated to reflect the changes being introduced. This will help you prepare for any increase in staff requests. Make sure you keep your paperwork & record keeping in order.
Want to find out more? Register for our free employment law webinar.
Oct 2019
16
BrightPay Customer Update: October 2019
Welcome to BrightPay's October update where you will find out about the latest hot topics and events affecting payroll. Our most important news this month include:
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PAYE Modernisation in 2020: What you need to know
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BrightPay’s new employee SmartPhone App
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Budget 2020 – Employer Focus
Backing up your payroll data in 2019
Disasters happen. It’s all part of being in business: Fire, flood, theft, you name it. If you own premises or an office, it might happen to you. Did you access your free BrightPay Connect cloud backup facility yet? In 2019 we gave all of our BrightPay customers a FREE BrightPay Connect licence. Automatically store payroll information in the cloud and enable online access anywhere, anytime for you and your employees.
Free CPD accredited webinar | PAYE Modernisation: The story so far
During this PAYE Modernisation webinar, BrightPay's MD Paul Byrne looks back at the story so far and decides whether or not the new real time payroll reporting system has been a success. In this free CPD accredited webinar, we will review some of the most common mistakes employers have made to date and what employers should expect in 2020. Part two will deep dive into how online payroll platforms can improve your efficiency.
Places are limited. Book early to avoid disappointment.
Have you invited your employees to use their FREE smartphone app?
Our new employee self-service smartphone and tablet app is available with our cloud add-on BrightPay Connect. It’s completely free to all BrightPay customers for 2019. The user-friendly app streamlines the payroll processing while reducing the number of payroll queries from employees. The benefits for employees include:
- Instant access to current & historic payslips.
- Request leave on the go.
- View HR documents such as employee contracts & handbooks.
- Edit personal contact information including address and phone number details.
HR & Employment Law Landscape - Free Webinar
Business Owners and Managers are all too aware of the on-going challenges and constant changes in the area of Employment Law and HR Best Practice. This webinar will offer the opportunity to keep abreast of change and plan for the future. Places are limited.
Oct 2019
9
Budget 2020 – Employer Focus
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe announced Budget 2020 with very few changes:
- There is no change to tax credits, cut off points or the rates of PAYE
- There is no change to the rates of Universal Social Charge (USC)
- The Earned Income Tax Credit will increase by €150 to €1,500
- The Home Carer Tax Credit will increase by €100 to €1,600
- The Benefit In Kind will remain as 0% on electric vehicles provided by an employer to an employee until 2022
- The Minimum Wage increase of 30c recommended by the Low Pay Commission has been deferred due to the threat of a no-deal Brexit. The current rate of €9.80 per hour will remain until there is more clarity on Brexit.
PRSI:
The National Training Levy which is collected as part of Employer PRSI will increase by 0.1% from 0.9% to 1% in 2020 to fund further and higher education.
| 2019 | 2020 | |
| Employer PRSI Class A Reduced Rate | 8.7% | 8.8% |
| Employer PRSI Class A Higher Rate | 10.95% | 11.05% |
| Employer PRSI Class H | 10.25% | 10.35% |
Oct 2019
3
One year later... Can PAYE Modernisation be considered a triumph?
Join BrightPay’s Paul Byrne as he takes you through the PAYE Modernisation journey so far, and decides whether or not PAYE Modernisation has been a success. During the webinar, Paul will also review some of the most common mistakes employers have made to date and what employers should expect in 2020.
As part of this webinar, we’ll take a closer look at BrightPay Connect and how important it is to backup your payroll data for PAYE Modernisation. Ian Jenkinson will take you on a whistle-stop tour revealing the hidden benefits of our self-service employee app and explain how BrightPay Connect’s cloud platforms can improve your payroll processes.
We are delighted to be joined by our guest speaker Sinead Sweeney, who is the PAYE Modernisation Change Manager at Revenue. Sinead will discuss what has happened since PAYE Modernisation has gone live and what challenges businesses are facing.
The webinar is CPD accredited for accountants and payroll bureaus. The webinar is free to attend and takes place on 23rd October at 11.00 am for payroll bureaus and 24th October at 11.00 am for employers. Limited places available - book your place now to avoid disappointment.
Can’t make it? Register for the webinar anyway and we will send you the on-demand recording when it’s ready.
More upcoming webinars
BrightPay is hosting a number of webinars over the coming months. More upcoming webinars include:
