Employment & Payroll

In a written ministerial statement, the government has announced the proposed new rates for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for tax year 2019/20. 

The proposed revised rates are as follows:

• The standard weekly rates of SMP, SAP, SPP and ShPP will increase from £145.18 to £148.68 – it is assumed this will be for payment weeks commencing on or after Sunday, 7 April 2019. The prescribed weekly rate of maternity allowance (MA) will also increase from £145.18 to £148.68
• The weekly rate of SSP will increase from £92.05 to £94.25 from 6 April 2019
• The earnings threshold, below which employees are not entitled to SMP, SAP, SPP, ShPP and SSP, will increase from £116.00 to £118.00 per week from 6 April 2019.

These rates are still subject to Parliamentary approval.

A recent First-Tier Tribunal case examined the complex issue of whether a group of 60 football referees should be classified as employees or self-employed. HMRC argued that the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) was the employer of the group of football referees in question. On this basis, HMRC raised assessments for a total of £583,874.07 relating to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 tax years.

By way of background, PGMOL provides referees and other match officials for matches in the most significant national football competitions, in particular the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the EFL. The referees to which this appeal relates undertake refereeing in their spare time, typically alongside other full-time employment. These referees primarily refereed League 1 and 2 matches.

HMRC argued that individual engagements to officiate at matches were contracts of employment. PGMOL appealed to the Tribunal on the basis that the referees in question were self-employed, and that further there was in fact no contractual relationship between the company and the referees.

The Tribunal was ultimately satisfied that PGMOL did not have a sufficient degree of control of the individual engagements to satisfy the test of an employment relationship. The Tribunal therefore, concluded that the referees in question should be considered self-employed and were not employed under contracts of service during the periods under appeal. PGMOL’s appeal was allowed. This case could have important implications for referees and other sports officials working in their spare time.