Quick Poll results: How are payroll professionals communicating the Health and Social Care Levy?
28 March 2022
The Health and Social Care Levy came as a shock to the payroll world, followed by an immediate flurry of questions. With all the fuss, we wanted to see how many of you are intending to communicate the changes to your employees and how.
We believe that strong communication between payroll and employees/clients is essential, and with this change having such a far-reaching impact, it is important that all involved are educated. Of course, all this was before the chancellor of the exchequer announced further changes to the National Insurance (NI) system.
A massive 82.5% of respondents indicated that they will be communicating the changes to employees in some form. Break down as below:
|
Format |
Percentage responded |
|
Recommended payslip message |
39% |
|
Modified payslip message |
5.5% |
|
Payslip message plus additional communications |
24% |
|
Communication other than payslip |
14% |
|
|
82.5% |
5% of respondents were from a payroll services provider (bureau) and communications will differ from client to client. This may depend on the software used, the clients needs, the employees paid or personal preference from each company.
Finally, 12.5% replied that they will not be including a payslip message or issuing other communications to their employees/client. There has been controversy over the recommended message, whether it is too politicised or if it is the place of the company to communicate government policy. While we understand these concerns, a payslip message could have a positive impact on the queries received by payroll in April when the changes come into effect. As the message provided by HMRC is only a recommendation, this is free to be altered or re-written as required.
With the cost of living being a hot topic in the media, it is highly probable that most employees are aware of the changes, but this does not mean that the changes understood. If steps can be taken now to reduce queries later, especially queries relating to deductions we cannot change, shouldn’t we take them?
Thank you to all who took the time to respond.
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