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Establishing a successful recruitment process and clear written employment contracts for new employees can have a major impact on your business.

Every business needs to be aware of its obligations under minimum wage and equal pay laws, as well as recent pensions auto-enrolment changes.

You must comply with legal restrictions on employees' working hours and time off, or risk claims, enforcement action and even prosecution.

The right employment policies are an essential part of effective staff management. Make sure any policy is clear and well communicated to employees.

While sick employees need to be treated fairly, you need to ensure that 'sickness' is not being used as cover for unauthorised absence.

Most pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave and maternity pay, while new fathers are entitled to paternity leave and paternity pay.

As well as undermining morale, illegal discrimination can lead to workplace grievances. Employee discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010.

Home, remote and lone workers are becoming increasingly commonplace. Key issues include communication and how to manage and motivate people remotely.

The right approach to consulting with and providing information to your employees can improve employee motivation and performance.

Disciplinary and grievance issues can be a major burden to employers. Putting in place and following the right procedures is essential.

Following the right dismissal and redundancy procedures helps protect your business and minimise the risk of a legal dispute at tribunal.

Employment tribunal claims are a worrying prospect for any employer. A tribunal case is a no-win situation – even if the claim is unjustified.

Taxpayers get longer to top up their NI contributions

14 March 2023

The government is extending the 5 April deadline to pay voluntary NICs to 31 July this year after a surge of interest from taxpayers.

Taxpayers will now have until 31 July 2023 to make voluntary National Insurance contributions (NICs) going back to April 2006.

From April 2013, the government permitted individuals to retrospectively build their April 2006 to April 2016 NICs record through voluntary contributions as part of transitional arrangements introduced alongside the new State Pension.

The deadline for voluntary contributions was originally set for 5 April 2023. However, it seems that HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have experienced a recent surge in customer enquiries about NI payments. To ensure customers do not miss out, the government has extended the 5 April deadline to pay voluntary NICs to 31 July this year. This applies to years that would otherwise have been out of time to pay, up to and including the 2016/17 tax year. All voluntary NICs payments will be accepted at the existing 2022/23 rates until 31 July.

How to maximise your state pension

Making voluntary NI contributions for previous tax years can allow individuals to fill gaps in their NI contributions history and potentially boost their state pension.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) says: "To qualify for the maximum new state pension (received by those retiring on or after 6 April 2016) a person must have 35 qualifying years of NI contributions. For part payment of the new state pension a person must have contributed for at least ten years. For those whose NI record started before 6 April 2016, different rules may apply; the number of required years of NI contributions/credits to obtain the full state pension may be higher. If individuals have not contributed enough prior to reaching state pension age, they may not be able to claim state pension, or receive the full state pension amount."

Taxpayers can check their NI record on the government website.

Written by Rachel Miller.

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