Introduction to Employer Online Frequently Asked Questions What happens if the primary contact leaves? If the primary contact leaves, you just need to notify us that they are leaving or have already left. We will then update our records with the new primary contact details and they will then be able to take over managing the account. How can we pay for our order? You can make payments by BACS, CHAPS or direct debit. However, if you already pay kidsunlimited by direct debit, you won t need to do anything as we will be transferring over the existing direct debit mandates to Computershare. When will our vouchers be released? Vouchers are released on the appropriate pay date each pay period or on any other specified date that you require them to be issued. This obviously assumes that we have received the funds at the appropriate time. Can we be sent copies of payroll schedules or invoices? Payroll schedules and invoices can be downloaded using Employer Online at any time. This includes all historical orders. What happens if my order is automatically agreeing too early for my business? All you need to do is let us know and we can change the processing dates within the system to better suit your organisation. What happens if the order is agreed early? Vouchers will then automatically be released on the appropriate date based on the employees details on the agreed order. Any changes made by employees will then take effect from the subsequent order. Will the existing parents on kidsunlimited be transferred over automatically or will we have to enter them manually? We will automatically transfer all of your existing parents across to the Computershare system at the same time as we migrate your scheme. We will also set up any payments to carers that the parent has on their existing kidsunlimited account. Neither you nor the parents need to do anything. Is the Basic Earnings Assessment (BEA) on the website enough for HMRC or do I need to complete the additional PDF on the kidsunlimited website? HMRC requires a BEA to be carried out and saved for every individual that participates in the scheme, who joined after 5 th April 2011 (and doesn t have protected rights). You simply need to assess each member of staff and amend their details, if required, on EOL. There is no required format for the assessment. Your relationship manager will happily give you further guidance on this if required.
Will the website allow us to do the annual BEAs? No. The website will allow you to update the tax bands for each employee once you have done the BEA, but it does not do the BEA for you. HMRC requires employers to conduct a BEA to determine each employee s voucher allowance. To complete a BEA, you simply need to calculate each employee s relevant earnings and then compare the result to the tax band thresholds. This then determines whether they should be treated as a basic, higher or additional rate taxpayer for the purpose of their childcare vouchers and the limits they can receive in vouchers. The assessment of relevant earnings should include: Basic contractual pay Commission Contractual or guaranteed bonuses, including loyalty bonuses London weighting or other regional allowances Taxable benefits Shift allowances Skills allowances and market rate supplements Guaranteed overtime It should not include: Performance-related or discretionary bonuses Non-guaranteed overtime payments Tax-exempt benefits such as pension contributions and payroll giving Expense allowances, which are exempt from PAYE Please note that where childcare vouchers are provided by salary sacrifice, the BEA should be based on post-sacrifice earnings. Similarly, the assessment should allow for other salary sacrifice arrangements such as pension schemes or company cars. Once the employee s relevant earnings have been calculated, they need to be compared to the tax band thresholds. What about a future BEA calculation tool? Something that will make the calculation based on input of specific elements unique to the customer? We have considered a providing a BEA calculation tool. However, the form would be populated based on information provided by the employee and therefore wouldn t always be correct. As the employer, you are responsible for ensuring the data is correct and would, therefore, need to check all of the populated fields, which would be time consuming and reduce the benefit of the tool. We are constantly looking at ways of improving our service and will make future developments to support employers whenever possible. Will the BEA calculator still be available in order to determine the tax band approval we need to include Healthcare and any car scheme? Please refer to the answers above.
If an employee requests a refund, how will this work via the new website? Not all companies allow refunds and it is something we administer in accordance with the scheme rules. We have three methods that refunds are dealt with based on a company s predetermined rule: No refunds allowed Refunds only allowed with approval from the company All refunds allowed. If you are not sure about your specific company policy or wish to make sure we have interpreted your policy correctly, please discuss it with your relationship manager. If you do allow refunds, the employee would simply need to request the refund from our Customer Services team, either by phone or email. If this requires approval under your scheme, we will provide them with a refund form to complete and pass to someone within their organisation for approval. Once the formed has been authorised, it should be forwarded to our Customer Services team with the authorisation, and we will then process the refund. At the present time we receive one invoice, two pages long, detailing the service charge and the voucher value. We pass this voucher value to our payroll. Will this still happen? Once your order is agreed, you have the ability to download an invoice from your EOL account. Each invoice will have a full breakdown of voucher value and service charge. You can set up your payroll department as a contact on the account so they can access the information directly, if required. You are also able to request a split invoice, that is separate invoice for Voucher Value and Service Charge if that would be convenient. Please discuss this with your relationship manager. How do you deal with multiple group companies? We have a large number of complex clients and can accommodate them all effectively through EOL. In general, we have three categories of accounts: Consortium: this is where there are a group of separate business units that are managed together Employer: this is a scheme for a specific business unit Scheme: this may be a scheme for a specific payroll for example, Monthly 28 th, weekly or four weekly. Your relationship manager can discuss any specific requirements with you. Are there any more webinars planned? More people will need to attend one in our company. The webinar has been recorded and you will be able to pass the recording of the link onto any colleagues you require. In addition, your relationship manager will be on hand to support you through the process, if required. We will, of course, be happy to host additional webinars if there is sufficient customer demand.
Do we have to use this tool to get our payroll schedule? Are the emails stopping? Emails are not a secure method of transmitting personal data and can easily be intercepted, which would mean both organisations being responsible for a breach of the Data Protection Act. EOL is the only way to securely deliver your employee s personal information. You will receive emails notifying you when your order has been processed and, after clicking the link on your email and logging in, you are able to easily download your payroll schedule or invoice whenever you need it. Can you adjust the payroll excel sheet that is downloaded to suit our payroll needs, or will we need to do this each time manually? Our payroll schedule has been designed to contain all the information required by employers and has been adapted over the years. It comes in a standard format, but if you have any specific requirements, please discuss these with your relationship manager. How is it displayed if somebody has two children? All of the data for children is held securely in the parent s account, so we don t include this information on our order details. Parents are able to view their child s details online and can specify which child a payment is for. We then include the child s reference on the remittance advice sent to the childcare provider. With regards to the release of vouchers, does the invoice need to be paid by the employer before they are released? Yes, payment needs to be received and cleared prior to release of the vouchers. Best practice is to ensure the payment reaches us three working days before you require the vouchers to be released. The most efficient method of payment is Direct Debit, where you can set a specific date for the payment to be collected, and vouchers released, each month. Do we have to make the changes on the website rather than emailing the changes? Many of the changes we went through were to demonstrate how changes can be made using EOL. Some of the changes can be made by parents themselves, either online or by contacting our Customer Services team. Certain changes, such as amending tax bands, will need to be completed through EOL. We will, of course, set up the processing of your order in such a way as to minimise the number of changes required. However, if you do need to make amendments, due to last minute notifications of leavers or changes due to National Minimum Wage calculations, EOL gives you the facility to make any changes you require immediately and in real time, up to the point an order is agreed. If you are unable to make those changes yourself for any reason, then we will still be able to assist. Can we have a copy of the email/letter sent to the employee, when will these be going out and where should we direct any questions? You can find a copy of the letter being sent to employees here. Any questions raised by the employees should be directed to our Customer Services team.
Will the employees be informed about the changes directly by yourselves? We will communicate all changes directly to employees telling them exactly what to expect and how they will be able to access their childcare vouchers in the future. Can we set up reminder emails to be triggered before every payroll cut-off? You will receive an email notification when your order has been processed and you will still be able to make amendments if required. Your relationship manager will be able to provide you with a list of your order cycle cut-off dates. Does the service charge remain as it is with kidsunlimited? Yes, we will honour all existing service charge agreements. Can you provide posters and flyers to broadcast the new provider? We have an extensive range of marketing support available to you. Please discuss your requirements with your relationship manager. Do employees receive their own security/login to the system? Yes. All employees will receive a unique user ID and temporary password, which they are required to change to a secure password of their own choosing. We have received an email invoice today for April will this no longer continue? You will receive an email notifying you when your order is processed and then another when your invoice is available. It is a simple case of logging in and downloading these documents when those emails are received. Kidsunlimited seems a lot easier to manage than this - we get an invoice, check it and pay it over. It seems now we have to manage this ourselves online? The primary change in the way your order is processed is that the information is delivered in a secure way rather than as an email attachment. The system also gives you more control over your order. You do not need to make any changes to your order once it has been processed; you can simply check it and pay it over. We find that by allowing employers to make changes, we reduce errors and make the whole process smoother and easier to manage. Can you enter a generic email address for invoices as the mailbox is accessed by a number of staff? You are able to set up as many contacts on EOL as you need. We recommend that you set up different contacts, so that it is clear who has made any amendments to an order. It is an easy task to set up multiple members of staff with their own individual access - they will then all receive the relevant email notifications and are able to log into the system to make changes.