It’s National Payroll Week, so there’s no better time to clear up a couple of things I see trip employers up, month after month — especially with summer staffing changes still working their way through the system before everything settles down again in September.
Temporary doesn’t mean no holiday pay
This is the one I still have to explain more often than you’d think. If you’ve taken on temporary or seasonal staff over the summer, they are still entitled to holiday pay — full stop. It doesn’t matter if the contract runs for six weeks or six months; the entitlement is there from day one of employment.
Where this usually goes wrong is in the accrual, not the principle. Employers understand temporary staff get holiday pay in theory, but the payroll process isn’t always set up to calculate and track accrual properly for casual or irregular hours workers. If your system is still handling temporary staff the same way it handles a permanent nine-to-five contract, that’s worth reviewing now, not after someone’s left and queried their final pay.
The SSP rules have changed — and it’s catching people out
The most common question on my desk this month is about the new Statutory Sick Pay rules, and it’s easy to see why. Two changes matter here:
- Sick pay is now payable from day one of sickness, not day four as it used to be.
- The lower earnings limit has been removed, so part-time and lower-paid workers who wouldn’t previously have qualified for SSP are now entitled to it too.
If your payroll process — or your payroll provider’s process — still assumes the old rules, it’s worth checking that’s been updated. This isn’t a minor administrative tweak. It changes who’s entitled to SSP, from what point in their absence, and it applies to staff who may never have qualified before. Getting this wrong isn’t just a compliance risk, it affects real people’s pay in the first days they’re off sick.
If you’re feeling the pressure ahead of September
I know September brings a lot together at once — temporary staff coming to the end of their contracts, permanent staff back from summer leave, and payroll needing to reflect all of it accurately in one go. My honest answer here is: you don’t need to carry that stress yourself. We have a strong payroll team behind every client we work with, and catching these issues before they become errors is exactly what that team is there for.
The date to keep in your diary
One that matters every single month, not just in September: PAYE needs to be paid by the 22nd of the month, or interest starts accruing. It’s not a new rule, but it’s always worth the reminder — particularly if your staffing, software, or payroll provider has changed at all over the summer, since that’s when dates and processes are most likely to slip.
Get your September payroll sorted before it becomes a scramble
If any of this sounds like it applies to your business — temporary staff you’re not sure are set up correctly, SSP rules you haven’t had a chance to check, or September approaching faster than you’d like — now is the time to get in touch, not after the first payroll error lands on your desk.
Speak to our payroll team today and let’s make sure September runs smoothly from the first pay run.
