Hillier's Headlines

My light hearted take on the week gone by and the week ahead including updates from here at People Group.

Slightly different this week in that I’m writing this from Spain! And this will be the last Hillier’s Headlines before the summer break prior to starting up again in September.

As I sit here (in the shade) by the pool with the temperature steadily reaching the late thirties, I’ve been allowed an hour of laptop time to sign off on Hillier’s Headlines for a few weeks while we all hopefully enjoy a rest.

I shan’t lie, my head is definitely in holiday mode, so I’ll just run through a couple of things that have caught my attention this week.

Industry updates

IR35

The IR35 situation rumbles on in the background. I’m under no illusions and have been that way for a while, for all of the attempts to delay and change, IR35 for the private sector will be in place in April 2021. In Recruiter’s recent article as expected, the government are promising further education and support for businesses and to look at improvements to CEST. Lip service springs to mind! Should you need more advice and info around IR35 come April 2021 feel free to get in touch or visit our IR35 Resource hub.

CJRS updates

In the recent HMRC update there’s confirmation of dates and rates for CJRS over the coming months, but also the following:

Incorrect claims

CJRS grants are to cover the costs of your furloughed employees' wages (and related payroll taxes, National Insurance and pension contributions until 31‌‌‌ ‌July). We may withhold or recover grants if they are claimed based on dishonest or inaccurate information.

As we’ve seen during the pandemic in other areas, it doesn’t take long for someone to take advantage, and that’s what we’re hearing from various sources, that many businesses have used the CJRS scheme as a money making opportunity. The Express wrote an article on Sunday looking at potential abuse due in some part to the swift creation and implementation of CJRS. The word of warning for the majority of us good folk is that we should be prepared to be challenged by HMRC for additional information. In the article a leading tax barrister is quoted as saying:

“HMRC will definitely be pursuing cases. I believe there will be a lot of routine enquiries opened into payments even after the scheme ends.

“I anticipate there will be random checks on companies, asking them to send over information relevant to a business and furloughing. If that gives cause for suspicion, they will be following that up.”

People Group Updates

CJRS for term time workers

We are awaiting updated guidance from government on how to treat payments over the summer months. It is hoped that we’ll have an update by this Friday 24 July which we’ll then be able to communicate with our customers.

Newsletters due this week

It’s been a while since we produced our contractor and agency newsletters what with everything that’s been happening of late. For these editions we’ve decided to move online for the first time as we don’t feel that PDF newsletters work too well, particularly on mobile! Packed with content and updates including our new refer a friend scheme and some health and wellbeing tips it should be available by the end of the week.

We’re all still remote

I’m very remote as I type this (from Spain), and all People Group staff continue to work from their home offices. It definitely feels like the summer break is just around the corner as we see staff taking time off for tentative trips abroad or the increasingly popular staycation! While we remain efficient and effective working from home, and with the summer break ‘quiet’ period on the horizon, we have no immediate rush to change our office arrangements.

Signing off

So, I’ll say farewell for now on Hillier’s Headlines. I plan to pick this back up at the beginning of September, when it’ll be interesting to see how the landscape has shifted. And while I take a break from Hillier’s Headlines, it doesn’t mean my virtual door is shut. You know me, always working!

Stay safe and well and make sure you take a break too.

Terry Hillier, CEO People Group Services