Leading payroll professionals

It does not matter what industry sector you work in people have to be paid; the health sector is no exception. There have been a few key changes to legislation discussed in the media recently, which will affect us all; the swine flu pandemic and ‘Reforming the Medical Statement’ but more on this later. Firstly, we would like you to know what the IPP is all about.

What we do
The IPP is a membership body and we represent employers’ payroll and pension departments, i.e. the professionals that ensure we are paid on time. Payroll professionals deal with reams of ever changing policy and legislation on a daily basis and this is where our roles as part of the Policy and Research team for the IPP fits into the equation.
    
One of the main responsibilities of the team is to represent our members at consultation with Her Majesty’s Government (HMG). HMG being Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Policy team has built good relationships with government bodies and as a result our contribution as member representatives is valued and we are invited to attend both Strategic Policy and Operational level consultation meetings. This means that when HMG plan to change or introduce new rules and regulations, the IPP along with other external and internal stakeholders ensure that all affected parties are provided with representation whilst at the same time assist HMG to introduce any changes. The objective being to minimise administration burden whilst being conscious of cost implications and realistic timescales for implementation. As a result of this involvement we can now bring to you the latest news regarding swine flu and Reforming the Medical Statement.

Swine flu impact
The IPP Policy team recently attended a series of meetings organised by the Cabinet Office to discuss swine flu and the possible impacts on business. The outcome of those meetings, in conjunction with other stakeholders has enabled us to provide an update on the current situation.
    
Employers may be aware that for the outbreak of H1N1 influenza (swine flu), the World Health Organization has moved to pandemic Phase 6. One of the proposals under consideration by the UK government for the containment of swine flu is to extend the period of self-certification for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) purposes beyond the current seven days limit. In addition to other measures and considerations, this would help contain the pandemic by avoiding those affected attending doctors’ surgeries. The change, subject to Parliamentary approval, could be for a fixed period of up to six months and would then revert back to the current system of the seven day limit.
    
If your payroll system captures the seven-day parameter your software provider may issue an update or work around it to allow the processing of a greater self certification period. As and when notification of any changes are provided by government you may wish to check the process with your software provider.
    
The government has plans to communicate any change of the limit to businesses, but at present the limit remains at seven days for self-certification for SSP.

Consultation on Draft Regulations
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently consulted on amending regulations in order to implement proposed changes to the medical statement known in the payroll world as the Med 3 Certificate. The new medical statement will be introduced in April 2010, subject to Parliamentary approval. The Social Security (Medical Evidence) and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) Amendment Regulations 2010 will bring about the following changes:

• Change the format of the medical statement to allow doctors to record whether a patient is fit or not fit for work but also include a new option to allow a doctor to indicate where someone “May be fit for some work now”
• Update the rules relating to completing statements
• Make provision to rationalise the current set of medical statements, by removing forms med 4 and 5 to simplify the process for GPs and employers, and reflect recent changes to the welfare system arising from the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Permit GPs to issue statements printed by their practice’s computer systems as opposed to handwriting on a statement pad.

The IPP has been involved in this consultation and in order to provide a true voice for IPP members we conducted a survey to establish their actual responses. In response to the survey the majority of the IPP members who responded indicated they were in favour of all the proposals within the consultation, however, some members requested further clarity around the detail of the draft regulations. There was also concern around how viable it would be for a doctor to accurately assess someone as ‘fit for some work’ when he or she has minimal or no knowledge of the workplace set up.
    
The IPP Policy team will continue to update members once government has provided a response to the consultation and also provide updates as an outcome of attendance at consultation meetings.
    
Finally, payroll and pension professionals are busy people and do not have the time to conduct government research, as a benefit of membership the IPP Policy and Research team provide a weekly e-newsletter entitled ‘News On Line’, which includes all of the latest payroll and pension news that may have occurred within the previous week.
    
For more information
The team also provide a Legislation Planner and Timetable, which can be viewed by visiting the IPP web pages. The planner includes further detail of what the IPP Policy team are working on and provides valuable information on forthcoming changes. To view the legislation planner please see: www.payrollprofession.org

This article was written by Elaine Gibson FIPPDip, Senior Policy and Research Officer and Manager of Strategic Academic Qualifications, and Diana Bruce, Policy Liaison Officer and Manager of the IPP Advisory Service