Aarrrgghhhhhh!

[Guest]

Feel better now

 

Here's the problem. We're being given some GLF money to 'boost the wages of the person doing the EYPS'. I ask the LEA if this money was subject to tax, and who should pay employer's contributions, they said ask the revenue. I asked the revenue, they said yes, subject to tax, but I would have to ask the LEA about who should pay employer's contributions. No one is willing to give me a definitive answer the EYT are as helpful as a chocolate radiator.

 

The upshot is that, if we as a setting pay the contributions, it will COST US about £150 to pay a bonus that we didn't actually choose to pay in the first place. Surely this is madness!!??

 

Do you think we should deduct our contributions from the original bonus, or do we end up down financially to pay it?

[Rea]

I'm sitting here laughing. I know I shouldnt, I think I've just been grabbed by hysteria. I know you have a serious question and would like a serious answer, but I'm darned if I know the answer to anything at the moment. I feel like screaming just like your title did. So glad I can laugh.

 

Sorry Suzie, had to get that out of my system. I'd do whatever I could to keep your money for your group. I dont understand how the funding works but surely they culdnt give you money that will make you poorer? Or could they?

[eyfs1966]

Yes, sounds most familiar. I was awarded £2000 for EYPS and as I run the payroll, realised instantly that there was an employer's NI problem. Being an honest Joe, I awarded myself the £2000, the "employer "paid the NI, but I then knocked that amount off my expenses, so overall the nursery was not out of pocket.

 

Have a look at the award carefully. It may be that you can elect to pay all or part of it to the employee and spent the remainder on supporting the EYP role in your setting. Those were the terms of my award. If that's the case, I would hold back the Ni amount and consider this "supporting the role".

 

Ther is always a problem when dealing with EYA's , being that they, unlike us, don't run businesses, so have absolutely no concept of PAYE or other taxes such as VAT. It is a problem I have come up against time and time again and it drives me mad!

[eyfs1966]

OOOOOH and another thought. Be very careful HOW you award the monay. Is this stream of the GLF one that is going to continue? In my situation, my setting doesn't meet the criteria for REQUIRING an EYP (not long enough opening hrs), but the LEA clearly had GLF funds ledt over and hence decided to award me the £2000 last year. However, the letter said that they may not be able to make the same award again. Despite the letter suggesting that the money be used to support my salary, which intimated that I should spread it over my annual salary, this would mean that the nursery would have to fund this salary increase in the future. To STOP this being the case, I awarded the amount to myself as a one off "bonus", to ensure that the setting could continue to afford to pay me my normal salary in the future. So do check whether this money is a one off or not, and pay accordingly.

Edited October 1, 2010 by eyfs1966

[Guest]

Thanks for the sane words guys, glad I could make you laugh Rea after the week you've had.

 

What made me laugh was the LEA said ask the DoE, the DoE said ask the revenue, then the revenue said ask the LEA.

 

The award just says 'to boost the EYP's wages', so to my mind that means we should use the money to fund a bonus, so our contribution has to come out of it too.

 

I guess it depends on how much we want the goodwill.

[Rea]

I'd say your right. If the money is for pay, then it has to include everything that goes with pay, such as NI, TAX, pension, all of it. Would it help the revenue people if you phoned them with that answer? All they have to say is yes or no.

[Guest]

Sadly they said they 'couldn't comment on it' when I suggested that option to them. Eeeruuuuughhhhhhhhhhhhhbleuchhhhhhhhhh!

 

Time to get my OWN kids to bed rather than doing all this for the benefit of someone else's.

 

Have a lovely weekend, Rea, try to put all your worries out of your mind and get a chance to relax.

[SazzJ]

Sorry can't help but I can't get the funding

[Guest]

hi

Can you tell me what the requirements are to be eligible for this money or am I too late? I only ask as I am currently doing my EYPS. My school are able to claim £1000 to cover me being out on placement but that is as much as I know.

 

Any help or advise would be much appreciated.

[SazzJ]

Depends on the LEA unfortunately.

 

I can't claim because the children only access 15 hours a week and they need to access 20

[Guest]

We take the employer's contributions out of the GLF and no one has complained about this, but it may be set up differently in our LEA. At least half of what we receive is to boost the EYP's salary, and the other half staff development and EYFS implementation, so we give half to the EYP and take the employer contributions out of the other half before we start spending on training, equipment, etc.

 

We've also got to the point where we work out one to one support assistant's hourly rates by looking at how much we are getting over the funding period and ensuring that we can cover our employer contributions and mandatory training. We were finding we were very out of pocket in years when we had lots of children with additional needs.

[Guest]

I thnk you should be able to take the employer contributions out of the GLF. Certainly we do and we have to spend it all on our EYP (me). We are also able to pay a bonus to the EYP for her to spend how she wishes and this has enabled us to fund training for the rest of the staff as I then buy the training in for them personally. I'm sure there must be better ways of sorting this whole thing our but I'm just grateful we still have any GLF at the moment.