Salary Sacrifice

National living wage update - 20th May 2024

 You may be aware that the government increased the National Living Wage in April and we have some colleagues with items through NET arrangements or GROSS salary sacrifice arrangements that have been affected.

 Please see some Frequently Asked Questions that have come up to assist you further.

Q. How does the National Living Wage (NLW) affect me? 

A. As a Trust we have a legal obligation to ensure that no employee salary falls below the NLW, whilst taking a salary sacrifice item.

Q. Why is there a change this year from normal processes with the National living wage and does it affect NET deductions?

A. HMRC have changed the regulations around how the Trust calculates the NLW against NET deductions. A NET deduction is one that is taken from your salary after your tax, NI and pension has already been taken. This was not the case in previous years and therefore we have had to act quickly.

Q. Am I eligible for a salary sacrifice or a NET deduction? 

A. This will depend on your current employment details and status. We use a higher living wage value from the current £11.44, called a ‘projected rate’. This ensures the Trust and you have a safety buffer to try and ensure that you don’t fall below the NLW in future years of any salary sacrifice contract and we don’t breach the regulations.

Q. Will I have to return my NET deduction car if I have fallen below the NLW?

A. No, after some extensive negotiation, the Trust has agreed with NHS Fleet Solutions to allow the continued lease for these existing vehicles. Payments will continue and any employee who has been affected will receive a letter explaining this.

Q. I have Home Electronics items and have fallen below the NLW, what happens?

A. If you have been affected by dropping below the NLW, any Home Electronics contracts that have made you fall below will be ‘paused’ until we have confirmation of any NHS pay awards. Your Employment details will then be re-calculated against the NLW and any ‘paused’ Home Electronics will continue until contract completion.

Please note we have outlined appropriate answers above but if you have any queries and require more information, please contact smartsalary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

The Trust has teamed up with a new Salary Sacrifice provider called LiaisonOneCall.They provide alternative schemes - another car scheme withGMP, Tech, holidays with Hays Travel and other offers

Please click Salary Sacrifice - Liverpool FT Benefits for full details.

**If you wish to register with GMP, the Employer code is LUHFT032148

Criteria for Salary Sacrifice/Net Deductions Applications

  1. Annual deduction of any or all Salary Sacrifice items (in total) cannot drop employees annual salary below the National Living Wage (NLW) Thresholds.
  2. The Trust will use a 'Net' monthly deduction (car) against any future Salary Sacrifice applications. - For full details relating to this and for any other NLW queries/updates, please see the National Living Wage page.
  3. Gross/Net deductions cannot take salary levels to less than half their income.
  4. Must be over 18 years old.
  5. Employees must be in permanent employment.
  6. Salary Sacrifice schemes are not open to Bank/Locum/Fixed term employees.
  7. Maximum allowed for Hays Holidays £10,000 over two holidays per fiscal year - 1st April - 31st March - If eligible for this amount, **If your first holiday is £6,000 you can use £4,000 for the second - Please ask for full details.
  8. Please note that there are Benefit in Kind (BIK) tax implications with various schemes, only enter into an agreement if you are happy to proceed and understand the effect on your tax. If you would like more information to make an informed decision please contact the salary sacrifice team.

Contact details

For questions relating to salary sacrifice, please contact the Salary Sacrifice Team by email 

paul.hesketh@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

paula.mccabe2@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

smartsalary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

For any Salary Sacrifice payroll/invoice related queries/issues, please contact

michael.anderson2@liverpoolft.nhs.uk 

For any Mersey travel pass/Cycle to work scheme, please contact

david.halpin@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

 

 

 

News and Updates

Additional Annual Leave Scheme update 20th February 2024.

We are now accepting applications for the new upcoming year, April 2024 - March 2025.

**Please ensure you use all of your purchased leave as the Trust does not offer a refund of payments if you leave the scheme early. For full details, please refer to guidelines below.

Applications for 2024/25 - We are now accepting applications up to the deadline/cut off period - 3rd November 2024.

Any applications received after this point will be filed and put on hold until the following year - 2025/26.

Payments: The scheme allows employees to spread their *monthly deductions starting from April 2024 to 31st March 2025 - If you wish payments to start from April, please look to apply from February 2024. *The Salary Sacrifice team will provide this figure once application is approved.

The monthly payments 'window' will naturally reduce through the year, this will depend on when the application has been submitted and processed by the Salary Sacrifice team.

For any queries and for relevant 'cut off' payroll points in relation to applications, please contact smartsalary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

Childcare Vouchers

As from 1st April 2020, the Trust will allow the minimum payment for Childcare Vouchers to be reduced to a minimum of £1.

This will be reviewed on a monthly basis, any changes will still need to be received by 2nd of the month to be in time for that month’s payroll - Please note we cannot accept any lower than £1 monthly deduction.

Any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Salary Sacrifice Team at smartsalary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk