Dec 2017
17
2018 Thesaurus Payroll Manager is now available
Click here to download Standard Version
Click here to download Bureau Version
We have prepared a help sheet to guide you through the set up.
2018 Thesaurus Payroll Manager caters for all relevant budget changes and a host of new features.
Many of the new features have been prompted by PAYE Modernisation, which will be effective from 1st January 2019, and by GDPR. Further information on PAYE Modernisation can be found here
The main new features are as follows:
- More priority to the P2C download process, a log of all P2C imports and reminders when P2Cs have not been imported
- Direct emailing of the Payroll Preview, Payroll Summary and P30 reports from within the software
- Emailing of a single PDF document containing all employee payslips for a pay period
- List of Employees ROS file, Revenue will request this towards the latter half of 2018
- Automated password retrieval facility
- Greater file encryption
- The bureau version also includes a "late payrolls" feature
Please note, from 1st January 2018, Revenue will tax Illness Benefit by adjusting an employee's tax credits and cut off points. As a result of this change there will be more frequent P2Cs issued for employees.
Employee Gift Cards
Thesaurus Payroll Manager continues to offer gift card integration with One4All. Orders are delivered in a plain envelope, addressed to the employer, with all gift cards enclosed. The deadline for orders and payments to ensure delivery in time for Christmas is Wednesday 20th December at 12 p.m.
Find out more about gift cards, the tax advantages and payroll integration here
Year End 2017
To access the 2017 end of year guide, click here
Register here for our free webinar 'Year End Process - Thesaurus Payroll Manager' which will be presented on January 23rd 2018.
Christmas 2017
The management and staff of Thesaurus Software Ltd would like to thank you for your valued custom in 2017 and to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Our office will be closed on the 25th and 26th of December, it will re-open on the 27th of December; it will also be closed on the 1st of January.
Dec 2017
11
Zero Hour Contracts - New Legislation
A new Bill, the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017, was published last week. According to the Employment and Social Protection Minister, Regina Doherty, the new Bill will prohibit zero hour contracts in most circumstances, as well as aiming to tackle problems caused by the increased casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious work.
Key elements of the new Bill include:
Employers must give employees basic terms of employment within 5 days.
Within five days of a new employee starting employment, the employer must provide them with five core terms of employment. These 5 terms are:
- The full name of the employer and employee
- The address of the employer
- The expected duration of the contract (where it is a temporary or fixed-term contract)
- The rate or method of calculating pay
- What the employer reasonably expects the normal length of the employee’s working day and week will be.
Employers who fail to provide these basic terms, who deliberately mislead or give false information will be open to prosecution. This is a new offence.
In line with current legislation, the remaining terms of employment will still need to be provided within two months of the employee’s start date.
Zero hour contracts to be Prohibited in most circumstances.
Zero hour contracts will be prohibited in all circumstances except in cases of genuine casual work or where they are essential to allow employers to provide cover in an emergency situation or to cover short-term absences.
New minimum payment to be introduced.
Employees called into work but sent home again without work will now be entitled to a payment. Additionally, if an employee has not worked at all in a week or has worked less than 25% of their contract hours, they will also be entitled to a minimum payment. The payment shall be calculated as the pay that the employee would have receive had they worked the lesser of:
- 15 hours
- 25% of their normal contractual hours
- 25% of the work done for the employer that week
That minimum payment must be three times the National Minimum Wage or the rate set out in any applicable Employment Regulation Order.
Banded Hours
The Bill introduces new rights for new employees whose contract of employment does not reflect the reality of the hours they habitually work. For example, the contract states 15 hours per week where in reality the employee usually works 30 hours per week. After a work period of 18 months, an employee will be able to submit a written request to change their contractual hours. The employees request must be granted within two months, only in exceptional cases will the employer be permitted to refuse the request.
Penalisation of Employees
Employees seeking to invoke their employment rights under the Bill will have strong protections against penalisation. Where an employee successfully makes a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission, they could be entitled to up to four weeks’ remuneration.
What’s next
The Bill was presented to the Dail on Thursday 7th December 2017, it is hoped that the Bill will be taken at Second Stage early in the New Year.
To book a free online demo of Bright Contracts click here
To download your free trial of Bright Contracts click here
Dec 2017
7
December 2017 - Customer Update
Free Webinar: Year End Process - Thesaurus Payroll Manager
Our highly experienced support professionals have put together this free webinar covering the year end procedures within Thesaurus Payroll Manager.
Sign up to the Thesaurus newsletter
Do you want to hear more about future CPD events, free ebooks, industry updates and special offers? Subscribe to the Thesaurus newsletter today. You will have the option to unsubscribe at anytime.
Purchase employee Gift Cards with Thesaurus Payroll Manager
Thesaurus Payroll Manager now offers a facility where users can securely purchase one for all gift cards for their employees. In 2015, the Irish government announced that employers could give a gift card of up to €500 tax free to employees. Gift cards arrive addressed to the employer in an unmarked envelope for extra security.
Free Webinar - How will PAYE Modernisation affect your business?
PAYE Modernisation is probably the biggest overhaul of the PAYE system since PAYE itself was introduced back in 1960. It will have wide ranging effects on all employers across Ireland. Places are limited.
Employers: 24th January | Bureaus: 25th January
Changes to Illness Benefit from 1st January 2018
With effect from 1st January 2018, employers will no longer be responsible for taxing Illness Benefit. From this date Revenue will tax Illness Benefit by adjusting employee's tax credits and/or rate bands.
Auto Enrolment to be introduced by 2021
Today, we are all living longer healthier lives. However, as a nation, we are not saving enough for our retirement. The Irish government aims to bring in an auto enrolment system where all employers would be required to enrol their employees into a workplace pension scheme and contribute towards the employee pension pot.
Free Webinar - What does GDPR mean for your business?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on 25 May 2018. Employers process large amounts of personal data, not least in relation to their customers and their own employees. Consequently, the GDPR will impact most if not all areas of businesses and the impact it will have cannot be overstated.
Employers: 30th January | Bureaus: 8th March
More for bureaus
Payroll for bureaus: From loss leader to profit centre
New technologies can positively impact the way bureaus offer payroll services. There are several exciting developments that are happening right now in the cloud. Be ready to offer a new level of payroll and HR services by embracing new-world online technologies.
What's new for Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2018?
Thesaurus Payroll Manager 2018 is now available to purchase online. We’re delighted to introduce our new bureau features that will help you get the very best payroll experience yet, including direct emailing of reports, a payroll journal export and much more.
Dec 2017
5
Should I be processing a week 53?
In the next few weeks, as we approach the year end, one of the most common questions for our support team is 'do I have a week 53'? A week 53 occurs when a pay day falls on 31st December or, in a leap year, on 30th or 31st December.
For 2017, unless your actual pay date is 31st December which falls on a Sunday, you should not be processing a week 53. If you do not pay employees on a Sunday your payroll will finish on week 52 and the next week due to be processed will be week 1 in the 2018 software. If for example, you pay your staff on Fridays, week 51 will be 22nd December, week 52 will be 29th December and that will complete the payroll for the tax year 2017. The next pay date will be Friday 5th January which is in the tax year 2018.
If the pay that would naturally fall due in the first week in January has to be paid in 2017 due to business closure, bank holiday etc it should still be processed as week 1 of 2018 to keep in line with Revenue's PAYE calendar. In this situation, the payment date can be changed to a 2017 date on the bank payment file in the 2018 software to ensure the payment is processed on time.
Many businesses close down before Christmas and do not reopen until the New Year, bank payment files can be uploaded in advance without anybody having to be in the office. Week 53 should only be used in 2017 if the normal pay date is Sunday 31st December.
An error a lot of employers make is when they are paying employees for two and three weeks together at the end of the year and although the software will allow them to use the week 53 facility only two of the three weeks should be processed in the current year's software. The third week should be processed on the new software on its own and the bank file can be changed to whatever date the employer would like the employees paid.
Friday pay date - To simplify things lets go back to the Friday pay date again. I am going on my Christmas holidays on Friday 22nd December and I want to process the payroll until I get back which will be Monday 8th January. I can process the last two weeks together i.e. pay dates 22nd and 29th December on the 2017 software and I can create a bank file. The 2018 software should be installed and the payroll normally due on the 5th January processed as week one. Once updated, the pay date on the bank payments file can be changed to any date in December or it can be left as 5th January at the employer's discretion.
Related Articles:
- PAYE Modernisation - What do these changes mean to you?
- Auto Enrolment Planned for Ireland by 2021
- What's new for Thesaurus Payroll Manager?
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