Paying your staff

Running a payroll

If you're an employer using PAYE as part of your payroll, you have to complete certain tasks each tax month.

The GOV.UK site gives you guidance on managing your payroll, including setting up as a new employer, what you need to do at the end of each tax year, statutory payments and expenses and benefits.

Use GOV.UK to find guidance on the following:

Payroll

• registering as an employer
• end-of-year tasks
• day-to-day payroll management
• taking on a new employee
• employee changes and events

Statutory pay

• sick pay and leave
• maternity pay and leave
• paternity pay and leave
• adoption pay and leave
• recovery and advance payments

Expenses and benefits

• reporting expenses and benefits to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
• rules for specific expenses and benefits and how they're taxed
• PAYE Settlement Agreements - if you make a single annual payment on small or irregular expenses and benefits

Minimum wage

The National Minimum Wage is worked out at an hourly rate, but it applies to all eligible workers even if they're not paid by the hour.

This means however someone gets paid, they still need to work out their equivalent hourly rate to see if they're getting the minimum wage.

Visit GOV.UK for information on minimum wage for staff who are:

• paid by the hour (time work)
• paid an annual salary (salaried hours)
• paid by the piece (output work)
• paid in other ways (unmeasured work)

Making child maintenance deductions

The Child Maintenance Service and the Child Support Agency (CSA) can ask you to:

• give information about your employee so they can work out the right amount of child maintenance
• set up a deduction from earnings order (DEO)
• answer enquiries from other organisations who collect payments of child maintenance on their behalf

You may also be given an attachment of earnings order (AEO) by a court.

Visit GOV.UK for information on:

• deduction from earnings orders
• how to calculate deductions
• what counts as earnings
• making DEO payments
• changes of circumstances for DEOs
• what happens if you don't help with DEOs or AEOs

What to do when an employee dies

There are steps you must take when an employee dies, whether it happens at the workplace or away from work.

Visit GOV.UK for information on:

• how to report a workplace death
• paying an employee who has died
• paying a pensioner who has died