Pay problems: reducing your risk
Starting a new training rotation can be nerve-racking. Is the department friendly?
Will the on-calls be manageable? But sometimes the most worrying aspect of
a new job comes at the end of that first month – will I get paid correctly, or at
all? Doctors have had to rotate frequently between several different hospital
employers for many decades, but aside from the ‘lead employer’ model available
in a few regions, little exists to make these transitions smoother. I have been in
contact with HR managers and HMRC for advice on how best to help reduce
the effects of these frequent employer changes on your tax code, and therefore
increase the likelihood of being paid correctly.
HR
The HR department of your new employer will require a certain
amount of information to allow them to ‘open’ an employment
account for you. It can be frustrating to have to continually keep
supplying the same information, and I often wonder how many
copies of my passport and bank statements are floating around
the country. Three documents are required for an identity and
address check. At least one proof must be a photo ID. Have a
scan of your passport saved to your smartphone or computer,
the same for your driving licence if you hold one. Supplying
proof of address is becoming increasingly challenging in a
world of ‘paperless’ communication. Try to keep at least one
utility bill (these contain minimal personal information when
compared with a current account bank statement) as a paper
statement to ease this process. These documents must be sent
as PDFs and not photographs. If you do not have a ‘scan’ app
on your smartphone, download one. This will convert photos to
multi-page PDFs to send to HR. Don’t forget that you will need
to supply these same proofs in person on your first day, so
remember which bill you sent! You will need to provide any visa
proofs that may be required for your employment if applicable.
Other essential information includes documentation to be
sent to payroll. This varies from employer to employer but will
include a joining form with your personal information, bank
account details, your declaration of previous service (also called
an indemnity form) and a request for your most recent payslip. This is particularly relevant if you are paid according to a nodal
point pay progression, or receive a Section 2 pay protection
premium. Equally important is your ‘new starter’ HMRC form,
which is explained below. To be deemed safe to work, and
therefore eligible to be paid, you will also need to be cleared
by occupational health, so these forms cannot be ignored. Your
PDF proofs of vaccination and blood test results from previous
employers can be requested and sent on.
There are a few important points worth noting. Firstly, forms
that request a signature must be printed and signed by hand,
then scanned before sending back. Merely writing your
name in a calligraphy font or adding an electronic signature
is not acceptable! Secondly, if you are returning from out-ofprogramme
(OOP) employment or maternity leave or are on a
supported return-to-work, you are strongly advised to call the
HR department as additional documentation may be required.
This is also true for less-than-full-time trainees and any trainees
that have had a last-minute change of rotation. Finally, the
workload strain that many of us experience on the front line is
mirrored in non-clinical departments. Whilst HR departments
will do their best to process everything, the time between
induction day and the payroll cut-off date can sometimes be
only a few days, so sending in your information prior to starting
puts you in the best position to be paid on time.
HMRC
When you leave a job a P45 is generated by your employer,
usually after your final salary payment. If you start a new job,
the tax code on your P45 will be used by your employer to
work out how much tax needs to be deducted from your
salary. Without the P45, you may end up paying too much or
too little tax. Unfortunately, frequent rotations mean that the
P45 procedure will not manage to keep up with you. Without
your P45, your new employer is obliged to use a tax code that
does not consider your personal circumstances and earnings,
or taxes already paid. When it does finally arrive, you should
send on Parts 2 and 3 to your new employer as soon as
possible. Since you will be starting your new rotation before
your P45 is available, your new employer will send a ‘starter
checklist’ form (previously P46) that lets HMRC know that this
is now your only job and aids your employer to allocate a tax
code. Given the rotational dates of ‘the first Wednesday of the
month’, you are likely to receive payment from two employers.
This will very likely mean you will underpay your tax, and a
correction will occur in the following month. HMRC could not
give any suggestions on how to prevent this, so it would seem
that some element of incorrect pay is sadly inevitable. HMRC
have suggested that employees call them to notify them of the
change of employer in advance, and that the P45 procedure
can be expedited by employees requesting their P45 from
payroll on the day of their final salary payment and informing
HMRC of the details. This could prevent P45 delays pushing tax issues into more than the first month. Understanding your
tax code is also important - please see ‘Decoding your tax’ in
this issue.
Just when you thought that the problems were all over, pay
issues can also occur even after you have left a hospital. Your
department should notify HR in advance of the end of your
rotation. This information is then cross-referenced to the
training information grid the hospital receives from Health
Education England (or devolved educational board) and the
employment should be correctly terminated. If this does not
occur, you might find yourself being paid by two employers,
which is sadly not as much fun as it sounds, creating havoc
with your tax code. As you approach the end of your rotation,
confirm with your department that you have been flagged as
a ‘leaver’.
Whilst getting paid correctly can seem like a bit of a lottery, it
is worth spending some time to ensure the odds are in your
favour.
Thanks to HMRC and an HR department for this valuable
information.
Karen Stacey
Elected Member, Association of Anaesthetists Trainee
Committee
Locum Consultant Anaesthetist, Imperial College Healthcare
NHS Trust