Letters

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Every year we are issued with new tax tables to calculate PAYE from 6 April then the Budget makes changes to the bandwidths so the tables have to be changed again! This wastes time and resources, yours at HMRC and ours as employers.

Why is it not possible for the Budget to pre-date the start of the new tax year, which would mean only changing the tax tables once in the year?

C Shipton
London

The main purpose of the two employer mailings is to advise or remind employers of key tasks and changes sufficiently in advance to suit most employers’ practical needs. The February mailing gives employers at least one month’s notice of what they need to do to complete their end of year returns and to implement those changes announced in previous Budgets and the Pre Budget Report, from the start of the new tax year.

Our second mailing then advises employers of the further changes to be brought
in as a result of that year’s Budget, and particularly the tax code changes to be implemented in late May.

We seek feedback from employers every year on this strategy, and reports we receive tell us that most employers are happy with both the timing and content of the mailings. We also know that the strategy plays a considerable part in ensuring the accuracy of some key payroll tasks. We will however continue to keep the policy under regular review.

I am deeply concerned about the new age-related legislation. The fact is that people age differently, both in body and in mind and lead different lifestyles, which can make them less likely or suitable to be productively employed!

D H Atkinson
Tyne & Wear

Whether an individual is suitable for a particular job will depend on whether they have the skills and competencies required for the job, not how old they are or appear to be. The key point is that recruitment decisions should – as far as possible – be based on skills and competencies, not age.

A fair and transparent performance appraisal system will ensure that those in employment will be assessed on their actual performance unclouded by any preconceptions about their age.

Can you explain how the minimum wage situation does not contravene the new age law, when it clearly discriminates against younger people?

A C L Bawden
Essex

We believe that it is important to encourage employers to take on young workers. The exemption in the age regulations allows employers to take on young workers and use the development bands of the minimum wage, without the fear that this could be unlawful. If we did not protect the development bands in this way, some employers might lay off their young workers.

Unskilled, inexperienced young workers are in an especially vulnerable position in the employment market. That is why the development rate for 18 to 21 year olds was introduced at the outset in 1999, and why we have limited the exemption to cover only young workers that are paid using the development bands i.e. less than the adult rate. We have protected those most vulnerable; i.e. youth workers paid below the rate of adult National Minimum Wage. It’s about protecting people who would otherwise be at a disadvantage.