News / Blog

Due to high demand for our Agile Working Seminar being held on Wednesday 28 April 2021, PSTAX is delighted to announce that it will be holding a second Seminar via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 11 May 2021 to help public bodies looking at introducing new ways of working post Pandemic. Once again, we will have a guest speaker who will share their experiences, this time from an Emergency Services viewpoint. Reserve your place by emailing bookings@pstax.co.uk.

With many staff successfully working from home for the past year, many public bodies are seeking to implement agile working arrangements, with more employees being home-based all or part of the time. We have had many clients approach us for advice on the tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) implications of the various alternatives to returning to the office full time.

The Office for National Statistics has advised in its bulletin released 1 April 2021 that an estimated 31% of the UK workforce worked exclusively from home in the week ending 28 March 2021. With budgets restricted and a trend towards reducing property holdings, public sector organisations will see this as an opportunity to reduce costs and speed up plans for hot-desking, hubs, and homeworking. There will be pressure to review changes to employees’ working arrangements as the current lockdown lifts and the Government’s advice to work from home relaxes.

Considering these very significant developments, the Seminar will identify the many areas that need to be carefully thought through to implement a successful agile working policy.

The Seminar will deal with not only the tax and NIC implications of introducing agile working, but also the organisational issues that will need to be addressed. In view of this, we are very pleased to announce that Matt Bridges, from Kent Police, will be joining us to give his organisation’s experience on the transition to an agile workforce.

Kent Police took the decision to change to a more flexible, modern working environment before the pandemic and this has involved changing the working practices of over 1,000 employees throughout Kent. The force’s formational programme includes a move away from the previous Headquarters site, a transition to home-based working, and smarter more flexible working opportunities for large numbers of staff. Exciting new technology is being deployed allowing staff to choose where and when they work whilst maintaining close contact with colleagues. Kent Police have already had to address many of the issues that will be discussed in the Seminar and Matt’s experiences will be of immense interest to those just starting on the journey to an agile workforce.

The Seminar will include sessions covering the following:

• Kent Police’s journey to agile working from an organisational perspective
  Our guest speaker, Matt Bridges, will provide an insight into how Kent Police is changing working practices to achieve an agile workforce that meets operational needs, while optimising the effectiveness of their streamlined property holding.
• Understanding the permanent workplace
  We will consider whether home can be a permanent workplace for tax/NIC purposes and what the implications are if it is or is not. We will also look at whether other locations qualify as permanent or temporary workplaces under agile working arrangements. In considering these issues, we will set out the tax/NIC implications in respect of issues such as travel, subsistence and redeployment.
• Encouraging and supporting homeworking
  In this session we will consider how you can achieve an agile workforce and keep employees invested. We will explore the employer’s options in providing employees with the tools needed to work from home and how to assist with the additional costs to the employee of homeworking in a tax/NIC-efficient way.
• Unintended consequences of working from home
  We will provide an overview of the side effects that agile working can cause if not addressed when planning changes to working arrangements. By way of example, this includes issues that arise in respect of employees moving abroad, Cycle to Work schemes, vans and vehicle use.

The Seminar will be of interest to those organisations that have already started to move towards an agile workforce and those that may be considering doing so. Given the anticipated demand, we recommend early booking to guarantee your delegate place(s). Please note that we are still taking bookings for the first event on 28 April.

The on-line Seminar is to be held on Tuesday 11 May 2021 and will start promptly at 10.00am. We aim to finish the seminar at 1.00pm.

The cost of a seminar place is £180 plus VAT per delegate. Organisations booking three or more places at the seminar will receive a 10% discount.

You can book by sending an email to bookings@pstax.co.uk.

When making a booking, please provide a PO number. If you book and subsequently find that you cannot attend, please email bookings@pstax.co.uk