Q. As an employer what are the changes to payroll regulations I need to be aware of?

A. Several payroll changes came into effect from April, 2019.

National minimum wage — all businesses, irrespective of size, must pay all employees at least the minimum wage. Employers who fail to pay the NMW commit a criminal offence. From April 1, 2019, the NMW is increasing so check the rates you’re paying your employees now. Auto-enrolment pension contributions — minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions for both the employer and the employee increased to three per cent and five per cent respectively from April 6, 2019. So the total minimum amount being paid into the workplace pension will increase from five per cent to eight per cent of qualifying earnings.

Personal allowance and basic rate limit — the Personal Tax Allowance is increasing from £11,850 to £12,500 p.a. for 2019/20. The basic rate limit increases to £37,500 meaning that the higher rate threshold will be £50,000 in 2019/20.

Statutory sick pay, maternity and paternity pay — statutory sick pay increases from £92.05 to £94.25 per week, and statutory maternity and paternity pay from £145.18 to £148.68 per week (or 90 per cent of the employee’s average weekly earnings for the first six weeks if this figure is less than the statutory rate). Payslips must be provided to all workers – from April 6, 2019, all workers must receive a payslip. Where an employee’s pay varies by the amount of time worked, the number of hours worked must also be shown.