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This article assumes the following: 1. There will be no one in your payroll department to process wages over christmas. 2. You pay your staff on a back week basis also called a week in arrears basis. 3. You don't want to pay people for hours or days they have not worked. 4. You pay your staff weekly. 5. You run your holiday entitlements from January to December 6. You close for christmas holidays on 23rd December 2008. The above usually applies to office environments and you pay your staff weekly. The information in this article can be adapted to your particular situation if it differs from the above details.
We will start at Week 50 which is paying week 49.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() NORMAL WEEK IN ARREARS
| | | | | | | | | | Week Comm
| | 08/12/08
| | 15/12/08 | | 22/12/08
| | 29/12/08
| | 05/01/09
| | 12/01/09
| | | | Wk 50
| | Wk 51
| | Wk 52
| | Wk 1
| | Wk 2
| | Wk 3
| | Payslip | | 12/12/08
| | 19/12/08
| | 26/12/08
| | 02/01/09
| | 09/01/09
| | 16/01/09
| Paying W/E
| | 05/12/08
| | 12/12/08
| | 19/12/08
| | 26/12/08
| | 02/01/09
| | 09/01/09
| | Monday | 1 | Work
| 8
| Work | 15 | Work | 22
| Work | 29
| Hol | 5
| Work | | Tuesday | 2 | Work
| 9 | Work | 16
| Work | 23 | Work | 30
| Hol
| 6 | Work
| | Wednesday | 3 | Work
| 10
| Work | 17
| Work | 24
| Hol
| 31
| Hol
| 7
| Work
| | Thursday | 4
| Work
| 11
| Work | 18
| Work | 25
| PH 25th
| 1
| PH 1st
| 8
| Work
| | Friday | 5 | Work
| 12
| Work | 19
| Work | 26
| PH 26th
| 2 | Hol
| 9
| Work
| | Saturday | 6 | | 13
| | 20
| | 27
| | 3
| | 10
| | | Sunday | 7 | | 14
| | 21
| | 28
| | 4
| | 11
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | PAYING WAGES TO ALLOW FOR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY
| | | | | | | | Week Comm
| | 08/12/08 | | 15/12/08
| | 22/12/08
| | 29/12/08 | | 05/01/09
| | 12/12/09
| | | | Wk 50
| | Wk51 | | Wk52
| | Wk 1
| | Wk 2
| | Wk 3
| | Payslip | | 12/12/08 | | 19/12/08
| | 26/12/08
| | 02/01/09
| | 09/01/09
| | 16/01/09
| | Paying W/E | | 05/12/08 | | 12/12/08
| | 19/12/08
| | 02/01/09
| | 26/12/08 | | 09/01/09 | | Monday | 1 | Work | 8
| Work
| 15
| Work | 29
| Hol
| 22
| Work
| 5
| Work
| | Tuesday | 2 | Work | 9 | Work | 16 | Work
| 30
| Hol
| 23
| Work
| 6
| Work
| | Wednesday | 3 | Work | 10 | Work
| 17 | Work | 31
| Hol
| 24
| Hol | 7
| Work
| | Thursday | 4 | Work | 11 | Work | 18 | Work
| 1
| PH 1st | 25
| PH 25th
| 8
| Work | | Friday | 5 | Work | 12 | Work
| 19 | Work
| 2
| Hol
| 26
| PH 25th
| 9
| Work
| | Saturday | 6 | | 13 | | 20 | | 3
| | 27
| | 10
| | | Sunday | 7 | | 14 | | 21 | | 4
| | 28
| | 11
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In the above example you are paying your staff on a back week basis.Christmas week, week ending 26th December 2008 is the most difficult week to work on as you may be processing the wages before the days are worked out. On Christmas Day (25th) and St. Stephens Day (26th) the banks are closed and bank transfers into staff accounts or cheques paid to employees' can't be cashed it is necessary for you to ensure that people can get their wages prior to Christmas if they want them. Also Christmas Eve (24th) the banks close early and there are usually huge queues in the banks you don't want staff trying to cash their cheques on these days. In effect staff get paid christmas week as week two in the new year and week one is paid as week one and not a week in arrears. Week one may be processed by you in December along with all the other weeks that are necessary to ensure your staff get paid for each week they are entitled to over the Christmas period. All this assumes that you have ensured that your staff have saved up enough holidays to cover for time off over the christmas period. If they do not have enough holidays to cover the holiday period, they should not be paid for days they have no holiday time to cover them. So for each day marked HOL in the above table you should calculate their wages as one day less e.g. pay them 4 days instead of 5 days or less whatever holidays they are short of. Not having enough holidays can apply to newer staff who may not have built up enough holiday entitlement. Avoid taking holidays out of their 2009 entitlement if you run a January to December holiday entitlement.
If staff are taking any unpaid leave e.g business is slow and their is no work to come back to in January, then process a zero pay week for them and not a holiday week. Also check and see if they claim any social welfare benefits are these taxable and amend your payroll system to reflect these changes. When processing Week 1 and Week 2 on your return from your Christmas Holidays, don't forget to adjust any Benefit in Kind amounts to reflect the new changes in the Government Budget and make sure you have the up to date tax credits for each employee.
Your payroll software may ask you to process your P35 and P60's. You don't need to do this immediately but contact your payroll software support company if you are in any doubt. Do a backup before your perform Week 52 just in case.
If you don't have the 2009 version of your software yet, pay week 1 as a normal week as it would be calculated in 2008 and you can make any adjustments when you get your 2009 software later. http://www.helpforbookkeepers.com |
