Coping with changes to Maternity Statutory Pay

Towards the end of each year, the government publishes the proposed new benefit and pension rates for the following year. Most notably, the standard rate for Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay is set to increase and as a result, HR professionals will now be planning their budgets for the next year, making changes to policies on family-friendly benefits.

As it currently stands, employees are eligible to receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks, although some employers in different sectors have their own maternity pay policy whereby these figures and timings differ. Other aspects that arise when preparing for maternity leave, experienced by both the employer and employee, are changes focused around points such as the change in staff skills across the trust. The employer must take this into consideration with regards to both budgets and the gap in skills which may need to be filled. Another change is to the hours worked; after women return from maternity leave, it may be that reduced hours come into effect which affects the employer and employee.

By utilising software which harnesses automation functionality, companies can avoid repetitive manual data entry, lengthy processes and eliminate the possibility of errors whilst planning for the future effectively. In IRIS Financials’ HR and Payroll solution, PS People, automatic rules applied within the system allow for the simple and effective implementation and planning of SMP to employees across a school or trust, with all calculations and timings worked out for you.

In addition to the rules being applicable to relevant employees in the system, the data also directly feeds into Payroll, providing you with a seamless solution for changes in pay, such as maternity pay. This direct integration alleviates the pressures of data entry for admin staff as well as the time constraints of the working day; the automation paired with the integration of the system allows for a more effective back-office environment.

Designed for the education sector, PS People possesses useful functionality to have a complete view of your people across your trust. It enforces consistency of approach and automated workflows covering all aspects of HR including; recruitment, payroll, talent & performance management, learning and development.

Get ready for next April with the help of IRIS. Learn more about how we can help you improve efficiencies and implement automatic workflows - visit https://www.iris.co.uk/products/ps-people/