WHAT WE DO

PARIS & PARKS

 provides a service that helps make paying people more efficient either by improving compliance and so reducing risk and liability, assisting with delivery of tax efficient remuneration or reviewing and improving efficiency of the function.

Yvette Lamidey, founder
of Paris & Parks, is a consultant to, and for, the Institute of Payroll Professionals.      [more]

LATEST NEWS

IN-YEAR ONLINE FILING
Don’t let the delay in go-live with mandatory online filing for P45s and P46s for employers with more than 50 employees lull you into a false sense of security. There is still much to be done with system and possibly process changes required even if you already file these forms online.

GLOBAL PAYROLL
Even if there were such a product would your organisation be up to the challenge of moving to a truly global payroll solution and all that goes with this in management of such a system? And yes there are one or two out there that can deliver a true global solution!

CASE STUDIES

EXPENSES SOLUTION
How Paris & Parks helped a major high street retail company to put in an expenses management solution for all its businesses.

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  HR AND FLEXIBLE BENEITS SCHEMES

What are Flexible Benefits Schemes (FBS)?

Flexible Benefits Schemes (FBS) are reward schemes which allow employees to flex the way in which their remuneration package is formed; sometimes these Schemes incorporate elements of Salary Sacrifice. The Schemes often allow an employee to buy additional leave or alternatively ‘sell back’ some leave in return for another benefit such as dental insurance or additional life assurance.

The Salary Sacrifice element may be in respect of pensions, child care, retail vouchers, bicycles where the employee sacrifices an element of their pay which is reflected in a change in their contract in return for the employer providing a benefit. For some schemes there will be tax advantages but in others the advantages are from the reduction in NICs paid by the employee and the employer and also the buying power of the company e.g. vouchers. Our approach would be to use a partner for these schemes where the Scheme would already be registered with HMRC.

Advantages of Flexible Benefits Schemes

Clearly, such schemes are popular with staff since they can change their reward package to something that better meets their lifestyle and requirements on an annual basis. Given two firms, one with such a policy and one without, the benefits package is clearly superior at the firm with the FBS and even more so where this incorporates an element of SSS. Schemes that allow employees to ‘buy’ additional leave can also impact on the amount of sickness taken.

Disadvantages of Flexible Benefits Schemes

Where an employer provides a service to other businesses they may contract their staff out at rates much higher than they pay the employee, by not being available, the firm loses the opportunity to make a profit on that member of staff for that period. It may also cause particular difficulty within a team if that member of staff has a particular skill. Additionally, if some parts of a job a more unpopular than others, many staff may try to book off some periods leaving other staff bearing an unfair share of unpopular work. It is therefore necessary for managers to ensure that staff are only granted the additional time-off when it will not lead to serious complications. Setting out these conditions fairly is a pre-condition to a successful FBS.

Managing Flexible Benefits

The management of Flexible Benefits usually sits with HR but Payroll have a major part to play since these need to be integrated with payroll especially where deductions from pay are required or a salary sacrifice scheme is to be operated.

Our experience is that often the Payroll team are not included in the initial planning stages of a Flexible Benefits scheme or when new benefits are added to the Scheme and this can impact on the ultimate delivery of the Scheme especially if system changes are required.

Many of the organisations that deliver and/or manage Flexible Benefits schemes do not have the payroll expertise and so are reliant on the organisation to ensure that the impact on the payroll is managed efficiently and can deliver.

Where Flexible Benefits are being introduced for the first time the Payroll Team may need some support to ensure that the system can support the business requirements, Paris and Parks can provide this support and also help with changes to processes and procedures to ensure a smooth delivery of the Scheme.

Introducing Flexible Benefits Schemes

Over the last few years many companies have introduced Flexible Benefits Schemes with or without elements of Salary Sacrifice with varying levels of success. Many of the initial teething problems have been identified and ironed out. If your firm is considering introducing such a scheme, please call us now to arrange a meeting. Paris & Parks can help you to prepare and introduce the most suitable scheme for you and help to negotiate points with staff representatives. Modern firms are finding that a significant contributory factor in recruitment and retention is keeping their benefit packages flexible and up-to-date.


Call us today and let us help you bring Flexible Benefits Schemes to your company in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Also See:
HR Efficiency, HR Training Audits, Software and Compliance.