Presenters Q&A Panelists Karen Bennett Rachel Hynes Laura - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Important Payroll Updates & Return to Work Policies 24th June 2020 Important COVID-19 Payroll Updates Welcome & Return to Work Government Policies to todays webinar Presenters Q&A Panelists Karen Bennett Rachel Hynes Laura
Karen Bennett
Head of Sales and Marketing
Rachel Hynes
Marketing Executive at Thesaurus Software
Laura Murphy
HR Manager & Employment Law Expert
Paul Byrne
Managing Director at Thesaurus Software
Audrey Mooney
Customer Support Manager
Laura Murphy
HR Manager & Employment Law Expert
Available to employers who may wish to receive financial support so that they can continue paying their employees.
Restricted to employees who were
29 February 2020
A payroll submission must have been made to Revenue from 1 February 2020 to 15 March 2020 Operating from 26th March & has been extended until end of August
Where no submission by 15 March, Revenue will allow access for employers, provided: Employees were included on the payroll on 29 February 2020 February 2020 PSR was submitted to Revenue before 1 April 2020 PSRs for all previous months submitted before 15 March 2020 Payments are not taxable during the period of the subsidy scheme
Employee will be liable for income tax and USC at the end of the year Rates of the subsidy – watch our previous webinars on demand Additional Resource Transitional Phase: 26 March 2020 to 3 May 2020 Employers received €410 per week per employee on PRSI Class J9 In many cases, this exceeded the employees entitled subsidy amount Revenue - perform a reconciliation to look for any overpayments
Operational Phase: 4 May 2020 onwards Revenue have calculated maximum subsidy and maximum top up Employers are notified to ensure employees get the correct amount Revenue will refund the applicable wage subsidy for eligible employees
Average weekly net pay – based on January & February 2020 submissions Includes bonuses, commissions and
January & February No option to deviate from the amount that Revenue has given you
The TWSS file needs to be imported into the payroll software Employer need to manually download a TWSS file from ROS before processing payroll Revenue will refund the subsidy amount that each employee is eligible to receive within 2 working days
Employees must be returned to the correct PRSI class Further guidance on reconciling payments & refunds coming soon Ceasing TWSS – employer should stop making any further J9 payroll submissions to Revenue
Employees in receipt of Health & Safety Benefit, Parents Benefit or Illness Benefit are now eligible Employee’s that were on maternity, adoptive, paternity or parental leave are now eligible
Revenue are placing all recipients of TWSS & PUP on week 1 /month 1 basis
Many businesses are now able to re-engage their staff that had previously been placed on layoff.
Employees must have had a pay date in February & included in PSR between 1 February and 30 March Create a new employment with the same PPS number and a different employment ID for the employee Re-hired employees will qualify for the Wage Subsidy Scheme if their DEASP claim is ceased
Must include the rehired employee in an RPN to Revenue one day before processing the payroll First batch of TWSS files did not include employees that were rehired after 1 May From 21 May – TWSS file updated daily to include rehired employees
Consider placing rehired employees
Employers will receive a notification when the TWSS file has been updated to include the rehired employee The updated TWSS file will need to be downloaded again and re-imported into the payroll software
Available to employees and the self-employed who have lost their job due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The scheme has been be extended until the end of August Flat rate €203 per week for those who earned under €200
Flat rate €350 per week for those who earned €200 and over When returning to work, an employee must stop their payment
Unlike the UK, Ireland has not implemented or proposed any legislation in relation to carry over of annual leave due to COVID-19.
Employees on layoff – continue to accrue public holidays, do not accrue annual leave Employees working short time – continue to accrue leave for the hours they work
Annual leave accrued up until the point of layoff remains intact – should not pay employees in lieu
Employers should put in place a number of measures, as set out in the Government’s ‘Return to Work Safely Protocol’.
A staff member is refusing to come back to work. What do I do? Why? Health & Safety Concerns Childcare concerns Public Transport concerns Do I need to re-issue contracts of employment for staff when they return from lay-off? No Can I take an employee back on reduced or different hours? Yes
Can I return some employees from lay-off and not others? Yes
A number of measures in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace The Health Service Authority (HSA) has responsibility for compliance
HSA will be carrying out workplace inspections to ensure the protocol is being implemented In the two weeks after 18th May – 1,000 workplace inspections
Key elements of the Protocol include:
1. Lead Worker Representative 2. Review Risk Assessment & Health & Safety Policies 3. Develop a COVID-19 Response Plan
5. Provide COVID-19 induction training for all staff 6. Keeping a log of contact/group work to facilitate contract tracing 7. Review other Company Policies
Each workplace must appoint at least one lead worker representative The representative must ensure that COVID-19 measures are strictly adhered to in the workplace
It’s advisable to create a log of everyone in the organisation who has COVID-19 responsibilities Additional Resource
If there is a change to how work is carried out, you will need to review your Health & Safety policies How and where could the virus be transmitted in your workplace Look at the hazards Evaluate the risks Put control measures in place
Dealing with suspected cases of COVID-19 Cleaning & hygiene Physical distancing Keeping staff informed Employee responsibilities Mental Health Comprehensive document that deals with all points of relevance relating to COVID-19 and the workplace A pre-return to work form must be completed by employees at least 3 days before their return to work Allows employees to self-certify that they do not have Covid-19 symptoms
Establish employees that might be considered a vulnerable worker Use Connect as a means of employee document distribution Additional Resource
All employees must be given COVID-19 induction training
Up to-date advice on public health Details on what a worker should do if they develop symptoms of COVID-19 Information on how the workplace is addressing the risk from COVID-19 An outline of the Covid-19 response plan Clarify points of contact from the employer and the workers Any other relevant sector specific advice
Keeping a log of contact / group work / employee interactions The aim is to be able to assist with contact tracing
The protocol specifically requires employers to review and revise their existing sick leave policies Review other company policies Working from Home Policy Annual Leave Policy Mental Health Policy Sick Leave Policy
BrightPay’s COVID-19 Resources Hub: https://www.brightpay.ie/pages/covid-19-resources
Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme – Revenue Guidance: https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-twss.pdf Redundancy Calculator & Redundancy Payment Scheme: https://www.gov.ie/en/service/78213a-redundancy-payments/ Statutory Redundancy Notice Periods: https://www.brightpay.ie/docs/2020/employment-law/minimum-notice-dismissals-etc/ Return to Work Safely Protocol https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/22829a-return-to-work-safely-protocol/ HSA Templates & Checklists: https://www.hsa.ie/eng/topics/covid- 19/return_to_work_safely_templates_and_checklists/return_to_work_safely_templates_and_checklists.html Lead Worker Representative Log: https://www.brightpay.ie/guides/Covid-19%20Response%20Details.pdf
Information and Guidance to provide to Employees: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/people-at-higher-risk.html https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/symptoms.html https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/how-coronavirus-is-spread.html https://www2.hse.ie/wellbeing/how-to-wash-your-hands.html https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Workplace_Health/Workplace_Stress/Overview/ https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/together/
COVID-19 Return to Work Form: https://www.brightpay.ie/guides/Return%20to%20Work%20Form.pdf Template Letter – Putting staff on Layoff: https://www.thesaurus.ie/Template_Layoff_Letter.docx Template letter – Returning from Layoff: https://www.brightpay.ie/guides/Template%20Letter%20-%20Return%20from%20Layoff.pdf
Paul Byrne
Managing Director
Audrey Mooney
Customer Support Manager
Laura Murphy
HR Manager & Employment Law Expert