Legislation help: How to keep up with payroll updates
Businesses across the UK are forever seeing payroll updates coming thick and fast.
So, how do you keep up with the latest payroll updates? With so much to remember – and so much at stake if you get it wrong – where do you start? We’ve got a couple of tips to help you, keep reading to find out more.
Email alerts
If you want the latest changes to payroll legislation sent directly to your inbox – sign up for relevant email alerts. A great place for this is HMRC on the GOV.UK website.
There can be up to 60 changes every week relating to tax, payments and customs. When you sign up, you’ll have the option to receive email alerts as changes happen, once a day, or once a week. Click here to sign up for your alerts.
Not all the changes you’re alerted to will be applicable specifically to payroll or your business. So, there will be a bit sifting to do to pick out the updates that are relevant.
Payroll training courses
Formal learning is a great way to ensure you – or your payroll staff – are staying on top of changing payroll legislation.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) have a wide range of payroll training courses available. From payroll basics, legislative updates, to specialist training – they’ve got you covered! Their courses are either in-house or online and range from a few hours to a full day.
Here’s what the CIPP have got to say about the importance of training courses and what’s on offer:
“Attending training courses is an valuable way of keeping up to date in payroll. Legislation is constantly changing, and attending training courses is a great way to keep up-to-date, hear the latest developments and discuss what they mean in practice. Now more than ever training is a vital way to maintain and develop knowledge and skills. One of the CIPP’s most popular training courses is the Payroll and HR legislation update and this is updated every seven days to reflect changes coming through case law, for 2020 this course also has a Covid-19 supplement and is delivered completely online”.
– Jason Clark, Training and Quality Assurance Manager
As well as individual or one-off training courses, the CIPP also offers formal qualifications and certificates. These include technician certificates, foundation degrees and even an MSc. These can take up to three years to complete and require significant investment.
The Global Payroll Association (GPA) also offers online course as well as formal classroom training that they’ll run at your office or at a venue you choose.
You can also try The Payroll Centre. They offer an on-demand video course that outlines payroll and HR updates for the current year.
Free training options
Formal courses and training come with a price tag. At a time where seeking additional investment for Learning & Development might be particularly challenging, an alternative option is to seek out guidance on the changes to legislation that’s free of charge.
For instance, a good payroll provider will send out regular updates to payroll legislation. This may take the form of a newsletter, a bi-monthly guide, regular blog posts, or even webinars. If you’re already paying for payroll software or a managed service, these types of resources should be offered as part of the package and at no additional charge.
For our full list of top tips, download our FREE guide: How to keep up with payroll legislation.
More helpful resources
- Payroll Legislation Guide
- Payroll & HR rates (from NMW, SSP, SMP, tax & NI thresholds – it’s all in there!)
