Get Ready: Seamless Secondary Pensions Submissions for Guernsey and Alderney are Here!
We’re excited to announce the launch of our new secondary pensions functionality for Guernsey and Alderney. This game-changing feature allows you to manage pension schemes and submit Government returns directly through Offshore Payroll, all in line with the new mandatory secondary pensions legislation.
Clients Are Already Raving! One of our clients, who’s has recently onboarded to Offshore Payroll, told us: “Wow… this is a thousand times better than our current process!”
We’re thrilled to see such great feedback and can’t wait for you to experience the same ease and efficiency.
What You Need to Know
To ensure a smooth transition, we’ve outlined the key fields you’ll need to update for your Guernsey and Alderney employees using our effortless imports function:
- Date of Birth
This will now be mandatory for all employee records as it is required in the new secondary pensions returns.
- Occupation Code
You’ll need to add a 4-digit occupation code for each employee to meet the new Government reporting requirements. Check out the link for more details: https://www.gov.gg/ocodes
- Opted Out Until Date
If an employee opts out of the pension scheme, you’ll need to provide an “opted out until” date, which will be submitted as part of the Government return. More details are available on https://www.gov.gg/Secondary-Pensions
- Deferred Until Date
While this field isn’t part of the official return, it’s handy for keeping track of deferral periods. See more information on deferred enrolment [https://www.gov.gg/article/198147/SP1—Notices-of-Enrolment-and-employers-obligations]
- In Full-Time Education
A simple tick box will let you mark employees in full-time education, and this will be included in your pension return.
Be Fully Prepared with Our User Guide
To help you get up to speed, we’ve created a comprehensive suite of user guides with all the steps you need to take for a seamless transition to secondary pensions.
We’re committed to making your payroll process as easy as possible!
September 19, 2024
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Meet our Team – Megan Rolland
When you think of someone who embodies the spirit of our business, Megan Rolland immediately comes to mind. Megan plays a pivotal role in driving client success and innovation, managing client relationships while spearheading product development. Prior to Offshore Payroll, Megan leveraged over 7 years of HR expertise in Jersey, London, Luxembourg, and Australia, where she implemented a cloud-based HRIS for a 700-user organisation as her final project.
Megan’s passion is centred around the blend of technology and business, making her an invaluable asset to our Offshore Payroll clients. With a BSc in Biology and as an Associate Member of CIPP and CIPD, Megan’s technical skills are matched only by her deep understanding of the payroll process, ensuring that even the most complex projects are delivered with clarity and ease.
Jersey Mini Budget – Changes to Jersey Payroll
An extensive package of measures to address the cost-of-living crisis, which formed part of the Chief Minister’s 100 day plan has been passed.
The aim of this package is to put almost £15 million back into Islanders’ pockets this year and almost £42 million in 2023.
The Minister for Treasury and Resources, Deputy Ian Gorst, said: “This mini budget will help individuals and families with their budgets in this cost of living crisis. I am pleased with the work we have done to help people with these broad measures at this time of need in the community.”
Some of the changes passed as part of the Mini budget will directly impact payroll in Jersey. A reduction from 6% to 4% for employee Social Security contributions, came into effect on the 1st of October 2022 for 3 months (ending on the 31st of December 2022).
Our clients won’t need to do anything, as the update to social security will go through to our databases automatically.
Also approved as part of the Mini budget was an above inflation increase of 12% in Income Tax thresholds and allowances, including Child Allowances, Additional Allowance and Child Care Tax Relief. From 1 January 2023 Income tax threshold for a single person will be raised from £16,550 to £18,550.
We will also be updating Jersey databases to reflect the increase in income tax thresholds from the 1st of January 2023 onward and will let our clients know if any action is required.
You can find more information about the Mini budget through the Government of Jersey website: https://www.gov.je/News/2022/Pages/MiniBudgetQandA.aspx
Source: Government of Jersey News Release.
Why cloud-based payroll protects your business resilience
Business preparedness, emergency and continuity are all subjects that most business owners have discussed during their annual strategy days. Fortunately, most have never had to implement these plans – until March 2020.
We all know that COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world of work forever. Homeworking, changes to contracts, government benefits and employee furloughs have all had to be considered and managed.
Perhaps understandably, limitations to our existing HR and payroll have been revealed. Many organisations had to review how they manage their payroll, for the well-being of their teams and their businesses.
Payroll has been tested like never before
Old, complicated, IT systems and ineffective, manual processes have been unable to cope with the ‘new normal’. Inaccurate data and a lack of analytics and visibility have hampered businesses’ ability to make fast decisions at the most critical time.
With often whole workforces based at home, companies have had to urgently manage both the logistical and emotional challenges of keeping teams operational and happy. These issues don’t even take into consideration the potential of higher levels of sickness, leaving many businesses’ shorthanded, at the same time as possibly being over-staffed – it’s often one or the other, but rarely both.
Through all of this, people have still needed to be paid. Often with new, different terms than before as organisations rapidly restructured to maintain resilience.
Payroll management needs to be cloud-based
It has become apparent, very quickly, that the organisations who were able to adapt best to these new challenges were those who had embraced cloud-based working. Their teams were able to work from home more efficiently, and the administrative functions of their business, such as HR and payroll, were able to continue seamlessly.
Businesses that had traditional, in-house infrastructure, hosting internally, have struggled, at a time when certainty of income is all important. Having on-premise systems, tied to physical infrastructure and fixed locations, can create security, scalability and in the event of a pandemic even possibly health risks.
Payroll must change forever – like everything else
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced rapid change to the way we work, collaborate and manage our teams. It has also quickly proven that people can work well from home. Even when the health crisis ends, home working won’t, which means that innovations to our HR policies and processes, including payroll will continue to be a worthwhile and valuable investment.
If you would like to discuss how Offshore Payroll could help your business, please email info@offshorepayroll.com to arrange a chat.
“A must have for a business”
Seamlessly integrates with Xero… great service from the team… A must have for a business with employees, ensuring payroll is completed effortlessly and facilitates the CER submissions.
De Wet Oosthuizen – Finance and Operations Manager
