We have tried to make this contract as easy to read and understand as possible, but if anything isn’t clear, or if you have any queries about it, please do get in touch with us.
Definitions
A Change means any temporary or permanent change to an employee’s pay, tax code, name, address or other details from that advised when the employee is first employed including a change of paydate whether notified to us before or after the relevant payslip has been processed. A Change includes but is not limited to pay rises, pay cuts, changes in hours including overtime, changes in tax code (save for the automatic change at the start of each tax year), unpaid leave, bonuses, changes of name and/or address, the starting or stopping of childcare vouchers or variations to the notified amounts to be paid by vouchers and all other changes to the employee’s pay and personal details including the termination of an employee’s employment and the engagement of a replacement employee. It also includes a change of employer (eg from single employer to joint employers and vice versa) but employer changes of addresses will not be considered to be Changes, nor will Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Sick Pay.
Client means the person, people or company who subscribe(s) to the Payroll Service
Payroll Service means either the Standard Payroll Service or the Premium Payroll Service, or both, as the context requires.
Standard Payroll Service means the standard service provided to the Client by The Wages Room during the Subscription Period in return for the relevant Subscription Amount. The Standard Payroll Service includes the following:
Premium Payroll Service means the premium payroll service provided to the Client by The Wages Room during the Subscription Period in return for the relevant Subscription Amount and includes all the features of the Standard Payroll Service and in addition includes the processing free of additional charge of unlimited Changes during the Subscription Period.
Quarterly Statement means a summary provided by The Wages Room by the end of the first week of each July, October, January, and April falling within the Subscription Period showing the cumulative amounts of tax and national insurance owed by the Client to the Revenue for that tax quarter.
Subscription Amount means the amount payable for the provision of the Standard or Premium Payroll Service for the Subscription Period, such amount to be notified by The Wages Room from time to time. The amount shall be the amount in force on the first day of the first pay period included in payroll calculations by The Wages Room. If the amount increases (or decreases) during the Subscription Period, no extra charge (or refund) shall be made. If the Client switches from a monthly to a more frequent Payroll Service during the Subscription period, then the Client shall pay The Wages Room an additional amount equal to the difference between the current rates for the monthly and more frequent services, pro rated to reflect the proportion of the Subscription Period remaining plus a £25 administration fee. No refund shall be available to those switching from a weekly to a monthly payroll.
Subscription Period means the period of twelve calendar months from the first day of the first pay period included in payroll calculations by The Wages Room unless the contract is terminated earlier by either party, in which case the period ends on the termination date, or unless it is shortened in accordance with clause 19.
Contract Terms
General
1. Upon receipt of cleared funds in respect of the Subscription Amount, The Wages Room will provide to the Client the Standard or Premium Payroll Service (as selected and paid for by the Client) for the Subscription Period for one employee - the employee notified to The Wages Room on the registration forms filled in at the start of the registration process. A further subscription will be required for any additional employees save as provided for in clause 2 below.
2. If the original employee ceases to be employed by the Client during the Subscription Period and a replacement is subsequently employed during the Subscription Period, then The Wages Room will provide the Payroll Service for the replacement employee for the remainder of the Subscription Period and the termination of the first employee’s employment and the engagement of the second employee will count as one Change for those with a Standard Payroll Service. If the new employee is paid more frequently than the previous employee, then the additional Subscription Amount due plus the £25 administration fee must be paid before the payroll service can continue.
3. For the avoidance of doubt, the Client, as the employer, at all times retains full responsibility for paying their employee the correct amounts on time, providing their employee with the payslip provided by us on each payday, making timely and correct payments of tax, national insurance and other sums which may be due to the Revenue and any other relevant bodies and ensuring that their employee fully understands and agrees to the implications of any net pay arrangement that may have been agreed to, including whether or not any tax refund due in respect of the Client’s employee’s pay shall be attributed towards the amount of what is considered net pay in any net pay agreement. The Client is also responsible for ensuring that the employee is entitled to work in the UK and that they are paid the National Minimum Wage as well as for determining whether the employee is entitled to any statutory payments, though The Wages Room can provide guidance on this on request.
4. Save as provided in clause 5 below, The Wages Room does not accept responsibility to the employee, the Revenue, the Client or any third parties for any financial or other loss or liability including unpaid, underpaid or overpaid wages, tax, national insurance or other payments and/or fines however they arise.
5. If there are any penalty notices issued by the Revenue, for example for late, incorrect or non-payment of tax and/or national insurance, then if any penalty or interest has been incurred as a result of an act, error or omission on the part of The Wages Room, The Wages Room will be responsible for that penalty, save that The Wages Room’s liability will be limited to the Subscription Amount paid by the Client for the Subscription Period in question less any refund that may have been made.
6. Neither The Wages Room nor any of its employees, servants, agents or anyone acting on its behalf will be liable for any other direct, indirect or consequential loss, expense, damage or cost incurred by the Client arising from or in any way connected with the Payroll Service.
Renewal and Termination of the contract
7. The Payroll Service will terminate either at the end of the Subscription Period if the subscription is not renewed, or earlier if terminated by either The Wages Room or the Client in accordance with clauses 14 or 15 below, or if shortened or terminated in accordance with clause 19 below.
8. If the Client wishes to renew the service, the new Subscription Amount must be paid by the end of the current Subscription Period to ensure continuity of service. The Wages Room will send reminders to the Client when the Subscription Period is drawing to a close.
9. When the Payroll Service terminates, then no further calculations will be run, no further payslips will be produced, no further documents will be filed with the Revenue and The Wages Room will inform the Revenue that it is no longer acting as the Client’s agent. From that point on, the responsibility for all filing and other payroll obligations will rest with the Client.
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11. If the Payroll Service terminates between 6 April and 30 May, then if the Client wishes The Wages Room to provide any employee employed by the Client at the end of the tax year with a P60 by the statutory deadline of 30 May, then the Client may subscribe to our P60 only Service.
12. If the Client is ceasing altogether to be an employer, it is the Client’s responsibility to inform their local tax office of this so that their PAYE scheme may be closed. On request, The Wages Room can provide a template letter to help the Client do this. Clients should be aware that failure to close their scheme can result in penalties being levied on the Client by the Revenue for non-filing of required Real Time Information, non-filing of quarterly returns etc even if no payments are due, so it is vital that unused schemes are closed by the Client.
13. The Wages Room reserves the right to refuse to renew any subscription at its discretion.
14. The Wages Room reserves the right to terminate the Payroll Service at any time at its discretion on 28 days’ written notice, in which case a pro rated proportion of the Subscription Amount will be refunded to the Client at the end of the contract period.
15. If the Client no longer wishes to use the Payroll Service for any reason, including that the Client no longer employs the employee, then the Client may terminate the Payroll Service at any time by giving 24 hours’ written notice to The Wages Room. No refund of the Subscription Amount will be available if the Client terminates the Payroll Service.
Documents
16. The Wages Room will retain all documents it is holding on the Client’s behalf for six years after the end of the tax year to which they relate. Upon receipt of a request from the Client at any time during that period, The Wages Room will email the documents to the Client or any other nominated third party and will provide details of all pay and deductions made during the current tax year. No charge will be made for this service, save for reasonable copying and postage charges if copies of physical documents are required, such charges to be paid in advance of the provision of such documentation.
Information provided
17. All payroll calculations will be based on the information provided by the Client to The Wages Room on registration and on any information subsequently provided by the Client in writing, including by email.
18. It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure that the information provided is accurate and complete and that The Wages Room is informed immediately of any additional information, or of any changes to any details, including but not limited to sick leave, unpaid leave, pay rises/decreases, the starting or stopping of childcare vouchers, changes of addresses or names etc. Any changes notified less than five working days before the paydate in question will not be processed until the next pay period. The payslip will therefore not reflect the changes until the next pay period and it is the Client’s responsibility to ensure that they pay their employee the amount noted on the payslip. It is the Client’s responsibility to alert The Wages Room to any errors they consider may have been made in the payroll. Note that only two Changes per Subscription Period will be processed free of charge under the Standard Payroll Service.
More than two Changes under a Standard Payroll Service
19. As stated above, two Changes per Subscription Period will be processed free of charge under the Standard Payroll Service. For those Clients who subscribe to the Standard Payroll Service but find themselves having to make a third or subsequent Change to their payroll, the following provisions will apply:
19.1 the third Change notified to The Wages Room will trigger a charge of £50 to be paid in advance of the next pay period to be processed. If this amount is not paid by the time the pay period has to be processed to comply with the statutory and legal deadlines for providing payslips and filing information with the Revenue, then the provisions of clause 19.3 will apply.
19.2 a fourth or subsequent Change notified to The Wages Room will trigger a charge of £30 per Change to be paid in advance of the next pay period to be processed. If this amount is not paid by the time the pay period has to be processed to comply with the statutory and legal deadlines for providing payslips and filing information with the Revenue, then the provisions of clause 19.3 will apply
19.3 Where third and subsequent Changes are made under the Standard Payroll Service, if the charges set out in clauses 19.1 and 19.2 are not paid before the Client’s employee’s pay date following the notification of the third or subsequent Change(s), then a proportionate reduction to the Client’s remaining Subscription Period will be made provided there is long enough left to run on the Subscription Period. If the Subscription Period does not have long enough left to run, then the contract will be deemed to have been terminated on the submission of the request to process the Change and The Wages Room’s obligations under the contract will cease immediately. The charges set out in 19.1 and 19.2 will remain payable.
Client identification
20. The Wages Room is registered with HMRC under the Money Laundering Regulations. As such it is legally required to verify the identity of all its clients. The Client agrees to provide the documents and information requested for this purpose. If The Wages Room is unable to verify a Client’s identity it may terminate its contract immediately with the Client by giving written/email notice and no refund of any Subscription Amount paid by the Client will be made.
Law & Jurisdiction
21. This contract is governed by the law of England & Wales and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England & Wales