Don't forget about your July / August EWSS Sweepback!

The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) replaced the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) which ended on 31st August 2020. As some employees were excluded from the TWSS, eligible employers can backdate a claim for EWSS to 1st July 2020 in respect of certain employees.

If you are currently eligible for EWSS, you may be entitled to receive subsidies and PRSI credits in respect of employees paid by you during July and August.

• If you previously claimed TWSS for July and August, any employee who did not qualify for TWSS may be eligible for an EWSS claim. Essentially, this means that any employee who started with you on or after 1st March, who was not employed by you at any stage during January or February, should be eligible for EWSS in respect of any payments made to them during July or August. The potential claim can be quite substantial e.g. if you had just one employee qualifying for EWSS being paid by you for July and August, the combined subsidy and PRSI credit could exceed €2,000. 

• If you did not previously qualify for TWSS but now qualify for EWSS, any employees paid by you at any stage during July or August should be eligible for EWSS. 

In order to make a claim, a CSV file listing the PPSN numbers and Employment IDs for all eligible employees must be uploaded on ROS. Our latest software upgrade (available when you launch our software), includes the ability to prepare the CSV file. It will also calculate the estimated claim value for you. This is available in the 'Employees' menu in BrightPay.

Because of the tight timelines in releasing our upgrade and because we may not have access to all payroll data since the start of the year, we cannot guarantee the calculated claim value and it should therefore be viewed as indicative.

The ROS upload facility is expected to be available from 15th September within the “Employer Services” Section on ROS. All applications must be submitted by the employer or agent through ROS before 14th October.

Following receipt of the sweepback CSV, Revenue will then process these files and validate them against the rules of the scheme. If an employee is deemed eligible, Revenue will calculate the total subsidy due to be paid and will arrange for the subsidy to be paid as soon as practicable after 16th September. Payment in respect of additional submissions received after 16th September in respect of July/August will be made weekly thereafter up until 14th October.

Claims could be quite substantial, so we urge you to run the report and, if applicable, submit your claim as soon as possible. 

Revenue guidance on the rules surrounding the sweepback and the claim process can be viewed here. 

Free Webinar: Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme

Interested in finding out more about EWSS? Join us for our free webinar on 8th October where we discuss everything you need to know about EWSS eligibility, processing subsidy claims and the new guidance in relation to the July/August Sweepback.

Don’t miss out – Places are limited. Click here to book your place now.

Posted byRachel HynesinCoronavirus

BrightPay Customer Update: September 2020

Welcome to BrightPay's September update. Our most important news this month include:

• Revenue to join BrightPay for free webinar & panel discussion

• Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme comes to an end

• BrightPay Guidance - Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme?

Register for EWSS before it’s too late! 

Benefits of employee apps that you never knew (and why employees love them)

TWSS Reconciliation - Coming Soon 

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme - What you need to know

A new Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme has been introduced, providing a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the numbers of paid and eligible employees on the employer’s payroll.

Both the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) will run in parallel from 1 July 2020 until the TWSS ceases at the end of August 2020. The EWSS will replace the TWSS from 1st September 2020. It is expected to continue until 31 March 2021.

Non-TWSS employers, i.e. those who have not previously availed of TWSS, will only be eligible to apply for the EWSS. EWSS support will be backdated to 1 July for eligible employers who did not qualify for the TWSS.

Employers wishing to operate the scheme from July 1st (i.e. for employees not eligible for TWSS) should process the payroll for these employees in the normal manner and Revenue will review these cases at a later date and refund the subsidy due. Revenue plan to cater for this via myEnquiries, this will require employers to provide Revenue with the employee details etc. Payment should be made in September. 

Employers who have availed of the TWSS will still be able to rehire eligible employees and continue to operate the TWSS until 31 August 2020. Employees already on TWSS must remain on TWSS until the end of August. From 31 July, TWSS employers can claim for non-TWSS employees under the new EWSS, for example, new hires.

While the concepts behind the two schemes are similar, there are a number of differences between them.

Scheme Eligibility

The EWSS will require employers to reassess their eligibility for wage support. To be eligible for the EWSS, employers must be able to demonstrate that their turnover or customer orders have suffered at least a 30% reduction as a result of Covid-19 between 1st July and 31st December 2020, compared to the same period last year.

There is one exception to this - Registered childcare providers can avail of the EWSS without the requirement to meet the 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders.

Under the EWSS a subsidy will be available for new and seasonal employees, in addition to existing employees.

The EWSS is also open to newly commenced businesses. Where a business commenced after 1st November 2019, the eligibility criteria will be assessed against projected turnover or customer orders had there been no COVID-19 disruption.

Revenue have confirmed that the EWSS can be claimed in respect of proprietary directors, subject to certain conditions - click here to find out more about EWSS & proprietary directors.

Operating the Scheme

Under the EWSS, employers will no longer have to download CSV files. 

Eligible employers will be required to register for the EWSS via ROS, using Manage Tax Registrations (under Other Services) in the main ROS screen. Employers must hold up to date tax clearance to register for the scheme and receive the subsidy payments.

The date of registration cannot be back dated prior to the date of application and does not need to be back dated if a claim will be submitted in respect of payments in July & August. Therefore, it is imperative that registration is undertaken prior to the first pay date in respect of which EWSS is being claimed.

The EWSS will be administered by Revenue on a ‘self-assessment’ basis. Employers must review their eligibility status on the last day of every month to ensure they continue to meet the eligibility criteria. If they no longer qualify, they should de-register for EWSS with effect from the following day (that being the 1st of the month).

Subsidy Support

Under the EWSS employers will receive a flat-rate subsidy of up to €203 or €151.50 per employee, per week, depending on the employee’s gross weekly pay. A subsidy will not be available for employee’s whose gross weekly earnings are less than €151.50 or greater than €1,462. The gross pay includes notional pay and is before any deductions for pension, salary sacrifice etc.

There will be an indicator on the payroll submission to indicate that an employee is an eligible employee for EWSS. On receipt of an eligible payslip, Revenue will calculate the subsidy payable based on the gross pay, pay frequency and the insurable weeks.

EWSS is a subsidy paid to an employer, it will not show on a payslip or in myAccount. The subsidy will be paid to employers monthly after the return due date, which is the 14th of the following month. Any changes made to payroll submissions after the return due date will not be processed for subsidy payments.

Under the EWSS, employers will be required to pay employees in the normal manner i.e. calculating and deducting Income Tax, USC and employee PRSI through the payroll.
The normal requirement to operate PAYE on all payments will be re-established under the EWSS.

However, a 0.5% rate of employers PRSI will continue to apply for employments that are eligible for the subsidy. This will be achieved as follows:

• PRSI will be calculated as normal via payroll e.g. on PRSI class A1. 
• Revenue will calculate a PRSI credit by calculating the difference between the rate on the normal PRSI class and the 0.5%. 
• The credit will show on the Statement of Account to reduce the employer’s liability to Revenue. 

For more information on the TWSS and EWSS register for our free webinar which takes place on 3rd September 2020. We will be joined by Revenue to discuss what you need to know about both schemes.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme comes to an end

The Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was introduced in March 2020 to provide financial support to workers affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The scheme enabled employees whose employers are affected by the pandemic to receive significant supports directly from their employer through the payroll system.

The TWSS scheme is ending on 31st August 2020. Therefore, J9 submissions with a pay date after 31st August will be rejected by Revenue.

During the transitional phase of the scheme, Revenue refunded a flat rate of €410 per employee per pay period. In a lot of cases, this amount exceeded the subsidy that the employee was entitled to receive for that week, and this will be rectified when Revenue perform a reconciliation of employer refunds.

The aim of the reconciliation is to:

• Establish the actual subsidy amounts which were paid to each employee 
• Determine if the correct amounts were paid to each employee during the transitional phase 
• Address any outstanding subsidy refunds or repayments necessary.

Revenue are hoping to commence the TWSS reconciliation in October. TWSS CSV reconciliation files will be uploaded to Revenue to enable them to reconcile the amount of subsidy paid to the employee against the amount refunded by Revenue.

In the interim, to assist in their future reconciliation, employers should continue to retain records of subsidy payments made to employees, records of subsidy refunds and tax refunds received from Revenue and hold any excess of the subsidy payments received for offset against future subsidy payments or for future repayment to Revenue.

In some cases, an employer may decide to repay to Revenue some or all the subsidy refund payment received from Revenue. Employers can repay excess subsidy values to Revenue via a new facility within ROS, this can be done under Payments & Refunds by selecting ’Submit a Payment’ and then TWSS (Employer). Customers should no longer use the Revenue bank account details previously provided for repayments of TWSS.

A new Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) will replace the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme from 1st September 2020. It is expected to continue until 31 March 2021.

For more information on the TWSS and EWSS register for our free webinar which takes place on 3rd September. We will be joined by Revenue to discuss what you need to know about both schemes.

Posted byRachel HynesinCoronavirus

BrightPay Customer Update: August 2020

Welcome to BrightPay's August update. Our most important news this month include:

• July Jobs Stimulus Plan – Employer Focus

• Key Changes to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme

• How Connect's Document Upload Facility Makes Returning To Work Easier

Processing Employee Hours Made Simple With BrightPay Connect

July Jobs Stimulus Plan – Employer Focus

Wage Subsidy Scheme Reconciliation and Repayment to Revenue

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

BrightPay Customer Update: July 2020

Welcome to BrightPay's July update. Our most important news this month include:

• Rehiring Employees After Layoff - The Payroll Implications

• Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme - Checking refunds in ROS

• COVID-19 Webinar On-Demand: Important Payroll Updates & Return to Work

7 Steps To Returning To Work After COVID-19 

BrightPay Connect: Streamlining Remote Working & Payroll Processing

COVID-19 Webinar - Did you miss it? Watch on-demand now 

During our most popular webinar, we looked at recent changes to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and the payroll implications of rehiring employees. We also broke down the Return to Work Safely Protocol and summarised it into 7 key points that employers need to be aware of. 

Watch now

Posted byRachel HynesinCustomer Update

PAYE modernisation: Common mistakes and how to avoid them

In January 2019, we saw the biggest overhaul of the Irish PAYE system since it was introduced. PAYE modernisation requires employers to submit the details of each employee’s pay to Revenue on or before each payday. The new real-time reporting system meant that all forms relevant to payroll taxes (P30, P35, P60, and P45) were abolished. Instead, Revenue issues employers with a monthly statement based on the submissions made by the employer with a summary and breakdown of the total liability due.

It probably goes without saying, compliance with PAYE modernisation is compulsory, and the penalty regime is pretty stiff. The regime includes a fixed penalty of €4,000 for each breach of the PAYE legislation and a fixed penalty of €3,000 imposed on the company secretary for each breach.

With these high stakes, there are three big mistakes you need to avoid when it comes to PAYE modernisation.

The DIY approach

We’d be lying if we said it was impossible to comply with PAYE modernisation manually. It’s possible, of course. But lots of things are technically possible: climbing Everest is possible, for example, but it’s difficult.

So yes, technically speaking, your business can go the DIY route to comply with PAYE modernisation. If you don’t have compliant software, the relevant information must be submitted to Revenue manually through Revenue Online System (ROS).

But why struggle when you don’t need to? With the right payroll software in place, the transition can be seamless while also offering many real-time reporting benefits to businesses and employees.

Set and forget

Outsourcing payroll compliance can be a fantastic way to eliminate administrative burdens and free up time. But fundamentally, PAYE modernisation compliance is the employers responsibility.

When you choose an outsourcing partner, you need to be certain that they are not going to overlook your real-time payroll reporting duties. Check with your payroll provider to see how they’re complying, and whether they’re using industry-standard, compliant software like BrightPay.

Not choosing the right software

If you have - rather wisely - opted for the software route to comply with PAYE modernisation, there’s another decision to be made: choosing the right supplier.

There’s a lot of choices out there, but very few software suppliers can lay claim to BrightPay’s level of preparedness.

Before the introduction of PAYE Modernisation, we had already developed this real-time technology and API integration for our UK payroll software. The UK introduced similar real-time reporting requirements in 2013.

We’ve worked with Revenue from day dot to make PAYE modernisation a success, and our software makes compliance simple. Our previous experience allowed us to easily develop payroll integration features that seamlessly align with Revenue’s new reporting requirements.

BrightPay’s pedigree speaks for itself: BrightPay won Payroll Software of the Year 2018 and 2019 and enjoys a 99% customer satisfaction rating. So if you’re seeking the right software partner, look no further.

Book a demo today to discover how BrightPay’s award-winning software can improve your payroll reporting processes.

The Road to COVID-19 Recovery - Return to Work Safely Protocol

Join us on 9th June for a free COVID-19 webinar

This webinar will examine key facts & updated guidance on COVID-19 payroll impacts. Understand what the lockdown easing will mean for your business as you reopen and what COVID-19 safety policies you need to introduce.

Free Webinar: Register Now

Part 1: Important COVID-19 Payroll Updates

In recent months, Revenue have introduced COVID-19 Government schemes to help keep paying employees with a number of important updates being rolled out. The government has announced the first steps to ease the coronavirus restrictions with a roadmap in place for lockdown measures to be slowly lifted. Understand how to adapt your payroll processes to accommodate for the schemes and subsequent updates.

Agenda

• Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme
• The Payroll Implications of Rehiring Employees
• COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment 
• Managing Annual Leave during COVID-19

Part 2: Return to Work Safely Protocol

With the emergence from lockdown becoming clearer, businesses will need to start to put plans and COVID-19 policies in place for their employees to go back to the workplace safely. The Irish Government has introduced a Return to Work Safely Protocol for all businesses to follow. This introduces mandatory measures for organisations to take care of their people and safeguard their health and well-being.

All workplaces must adapt their workplace HR policies, procedures and practices to comply fully with the COVID-19 related public health protection measures identified as necessary by the HSE.

Agenda

• Returning Staff from Layoff
• Redundancy
• Return to Work Safely Protocol

Unable to attend?

If you are unable to attend the webinar at the specified time, simply register for the webinar anyway and we will send you the recording afterwards. You can also click here to view more webinar dates.

Posted byRachel HynesinCoronavirus

Rehiring Employees After Layoff - The Payroll Implications

Thousands of shops, businesses and construction sites have reopened as part of the first phase of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. In terms of bringing staff back to work, employers should put in place a number of measures, as set out in The Government’s ‘Return to Work Safely Protocol’.

Many businesses are now able to re-engage their staff that had previously been placed on layoff. If an employee was laid off and their employment ceased as a result of COVID-19, and the employer now wishes to place this employee back on the payroll, the employee will qualify for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme if their DEASP claim is ceased. However, employees must have had a pay date in February and have been included in submissions between 1 February 2020 and 30 March 2020 under the same PPS number to qualify.

Rehired Employees & TWSS Files

During the operational phase of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, Revenue are providing all employers with details of the maximum subsidy and maximum top-up for all their employees. This Revenue instruction is in the form of a TWSS file, which was made available to employers on ROS from 4 May 2020.

Where an employee was rehired after 1 May 2020, they were not included in the initial TWSS file, and so J9 submissions for employees rehired after 1 May were processed but rejected for refunding.

From 18 May, the TWSS file now includes rehired employees that were included in an RPN between 2 May 2020 and 17 May 2020, provided the employee was on the employer's payroll on 29 February 2020 with the same PPS number.

From 21 May, Revenue will refresh the TWSS files daily to include rehired employees that have been notified to Revenue and to update the date on the file to reflect when it was refreshed. To be included in this refresh, employers must ensure that the rehired employees are on the payroll and an RPN has been received the day before the employer calculates and submits the first payroll payment to Revenue for the rehired employees. Revenue are currently developing a notification process that will inform employers when a refreshed TWSS file is available to download.

Additional Resource: We have created a template letter that employers can use for employees who are returning from layoff or short-time working.

BrightPay Payroll Software | Thesaurus Payroll Software

Posted byRachel HynesinCoronavirus

Thank You!

The Thesaurus Software team have received lots of words of praise and thanks over the past few weeks. Here's a selection of some of the wonderful comments that have been sent in. We would like to thank everyone for their positive feedback, your kind words are very much appreciated and encourage us to keep going during in these challenging times. 

Thank you. Stay Safe.