How to Process in IRIS Payroll Professional

There are a number of different scenarios you may be faced with if a claim for additional SMP is made; the advice below covers the majority of situations.

If the employee is still receiving the SMP payments in question:

• Go to the Employee Menu / Statutory Payments and select the employee
• The system will warn you that this employee has SMP already and asks you if you want to continue, say Yes
• You will be able to see the current Average Weekly Gross in the ‘Average gross pay’ field
• Manually alter the amount in this field by applying the relevant % pay rise
• The system will automatically calculate any SMP back payment due for higher rate weeks already paid, and will pay this amount as a lump sum in the next payroll run.  This will be paid in addition to the normal period’s SMP payment
• If any higher rate weeks have yet to be paid the system will also adjust the weekly amount to reflect the higher AWE

If the SMP has finished but the employee still works for you - the actions will depend on whether the SMP was paid through IRIS Payroll Professional or with an alternative payroll system.

 

Employees paid using IRIS Payroll Professional:

• Provided you have kept your history on the system it will be relatively easy to view historic payments of SMP on the system
• Go to Reports / Library Selection / Multi-period reports and select the ‘History SSP, SMP, SAP & SPP Summary’ report
• Print the report by going to Reports / Print Multi-period reports.  When you print it you will be given the option of what year and which periods you would like the report to span – make sure you choose the year(s) and range which shows the full Maternity Pay Period.  If you are unsure about the relevant dates you can quickly check any maternity leave taken using the Absence diary
• Apply the % pay rise to each week paid at the higher rate and calculate the total amount due.  The difference in this amount and what was actually paid equals the backdated SMP due
• Pay this to the employee next payroll by entering it in the ‘Maternity Pay’ field in the Payroll Run screen as a one-off payment

Employees paid using an alternative payroll system:

• If you cannot access the previous system you will have to use paper copies of reports or payslips that show the SMP paid previously
• Manually calculate the total additional SMP due for the higher rate weeks
• Pay this to the employee next payroll by entering it in the ‘Maternity Pay’ field in the Payroll Run screen as a one-off payment

If an employee has left your employment but contacts you with a valid claim within 6 months of leaving:

• Set them up with a new employee record on a BR Tax code
• Make the additional payment due as a one-off amount during the payroll run (as detailed above)

If the employee never received any SMP from you previously because she didn’t earn enough, but would have been entitled to it because of a subsequent pay rise, contact your Support Helpdesk.  This situation can get a little complicated as other factors such as Maternity Allowance paid by Jobcentre Plus are involved.

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