Digital Operational Solution Aids National Living Wage Compliance Amid April Increase
As the British National Living Wage (NLW) is due to increase from £7.20 to £7.50 an hour on 1st April for workers over the age of 25, many businesses are making internal changes in preparation for these rises. The leading workforce monitoring and operational software, IQ:timecard, developed by UniqueiQ, uses real-time data, analytics and integration to give companies a tool to keep compliant with the new wage limits. In addition, it streamlines other operational functions to make better use of resources and unleash hidden cash to support the extra finances needed.
The move this April is part of the Government’s wider goal of increasing the National Living Wage to £9 by 2020. While many workers welcome the news and the salary increase, some businesses are left with difficult decisions to make in order to facilitate the changes, resulting in cutting hours or jobs altogether. Failure to pay entitled workers the NLW can result in costly legal consequences, led by the HMRC.
David Lynes, Director of UniqueIQ revealed, “We understand the challenges that businesses face in order to keep compliant with HMRC guidelines, especially when using a remote workforce with irregular shift patterns. In order to understand whether you are paying each worker the correct salary a central hub is needed, displaying data from various sources.
We’ve included a National Living Wage report as just one, helpful feature of IQ:timecard. Although it is aimed specifically at businesses that use a remote workforce, it can be used by any organisation that schedules workers via shifts.”
Using scheduled or actual hours worked, the NLW reporting system on IQ:timecard calculates the mileage used from one schedule to the next, taking into account an average ‘schedule gap’ time, allocated to travel between clients. Using data based on age and the scheduled or worked hours, it selects the appropriate living wage figure that is necessary to keep each worker complainant. With this information, businesses can adjust accordingly to meet the required figure.
While IQ:timecard is useful in identifying discrepancies to the NLW guidelines, it has many more intelligent, cost-saving operational features that enable each user to streamline its operations, unleashing finances to support the wage increase without decreasing jobs.
Discover why IQ:timecard is an essential operational tool for contemporary businesses today at http://www.uniqueiq.co.uk/