Direct Payment Payroll and Advice Officer – Finance

Full Job Title: Temporary Direct Payment Payroll and Advice Officer - Finance

Reference no: Greenwich RQ780940

Pay Rate: £18.27 per hour PAYE

A Standard DBS disclosure is required for this role.

You will deal with payroll processing, internal and external financial reporting, statutory compliance, third party payment and reporting. 

You will undertake HMRC returns, payment recovery, resolution of queries, distributing pay slips, administering statutory deductions, PAYE, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay etc. 

You will act as an agent to disabled service users on direct payments who do not wish to manage their individual budget directly but want the flexibility of either employing staff or deciding how to spend their money. 

You will be responsible for managing their payroll, making payments to their employees and keeping their budget in order. 

Duties to include:-

• Ensure that employees of direct payment recipients are paid in accordance with the contract they have with their employee using a SAGE payroll or other appropriate payroll infrastructure
• Support and maintain the direct payroll provision and associated administrative support for recipients of Direct Payments for the Adults and Older Peoples Directorate and the Children’s Directorate
• Be responsible for directly managing Direct Payment Recipients (with holding accounts) bank accounts in line with the Financial Appointee and Protection of Property Managers oversight and guidance
• Provide advice and guidance to Care Managers/Social Workers, Brokers; Service Users and Carers; and External Organisations on how the Direct Payment Payroll support function and associated responsibilities are carried out
• Open and process all requests for New Bank Accounts for direct payment recipients that want the organisation to support them manage their money (holding accounts) within the Financial Appointee and Protection of Property policies and procedures
• Support Service users to manage their direct payment holding accounts; and provide information only account recipients and holding account recipients with regular statements in relation to the balance and activities undertaken from their accounts; for information accounts amounts they must be advised how much  NI, Tax etc to pay directly
• Initiate and develop close working partnerships with service users with holding/information only accounts to ensure they are receiving adequate information support when committing and spending their Direct Payment to achieve their outcomes
• Pay direct payment recipient employees from holding accounts and pay from the same accounts for the various other goods and services DP recipients procure from the funds in their holding accounts
• Ensure that direct payment recipients pay the relevant tax, NI contribution and other costs associated with being an employer
• Arrange to meet with clients at the centre and/or with their responsible representatives to ensure completion of the appropriate  paperwork (if/when appropriate); and to provide telephone guidance and support to outline the responsibilities in employing Personal Assistants
• Supporting the DP recipients with own, holding and information only accounts to understand all their statutory, financial, legal and employment obligations from receiving a direct payment and or employing a Personal Assistant including information on legal responsibilities, tax & NI, Health & Safety, and insurance
• Provide Information, assistance and training to own account PA Employers on how to set up good record keeping and financial management systems; and directly use a basic payroll system should they choose to do so
• Provide up-to-date information through a quarterly newsletter which explains updates in employment law, tax and NI requirements, the ILF, Health and Safety and Community Care legislation
• Provide assistance and support to PA employers regarding management of PA’s including information on training, and resolving disputes
• Develop knowledge of and links with other local and national support agencies and be able to refer PA Employers to them as appropriate
• Respond to payroll advice and support enquiries and requests
• Ensure the services provided to support individuals takes full account of equality of opportunity, and does not become a detriment because of the person’s ethnicity, religious beliefs, cultural background and linguistic abilities (including sign language), gender, age, abilities and sexual orientation
• Monitor and assess the collection and co-ordination of statistical information in relation to the Direct Payments Payroll Support and holding account/information account service; and provide reports as and when required by the Head of Access to Resources
• Promote the Direct Payment Payroll Scheme so that people who are eligible for community care services are aware of their right to purchase services through a Direct Payment and the types of support offered by the In-house payroll support service by regularly attending community events and meetings; and contributing to newsletters
• Provide Information, Support and Training on Direct Payments Payroll to own, holding and information only accounts holders as and when required through surgeries and workshops; similarly to care managers/social workers, Brokers, external organisations through attending and participating in conferences, team meetings and training events in connection with Direct Payments
• Monitor, together with Care Management and Care and Support Brokers, the achievements and satisfaction of service users in order to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the payroll support service delivery
• Assist with constructing, reviewing and re shaping current Direct Payment publications to ensure they remain relevant to the needs and requirements of individual disabled people that use the payroll support and holding/information only account scheme
• Participate in the development process of the Direct Payment Payroll Support Scheme to enable more people to choose and have control over how their services and support are provided
• Work with other professionals and service users to ensure service users are fully informed of all elements of the Direct Payment Payroll support scheme to enable them achieve the best possible choice and control self directed outcomes
• Respond to enquiries about Direct Payments Payroll
• Carry out other duties considered reasonable by the Financial Appointee and Protection of Property Manager; and Head of Access to Resources.

“Specific Role Requirements” – to give yourself the maximum chance of success please try and ensure your CV addresses the following essential criteria:

1. Minimum of 12 months recent experience in a similar role, or context and ideally within a public sector organisation
2. ICT Skills: Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite)
3. Ability to communicate with people in a friendly and courteous manner in person and over telephone, establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with colleagues and external parties
4. Demonstrable, relevant experience in a payroll office in a similar working environment
5. Experience in Payroll
6. Excellent administration skills
7. Experience of internal and external financial reporting
8. Experience of HMRC returns, payment recovery, resolution of queries, distributing pay slips, administering statutory deductions, PAYE, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), Statutory Maternity and Paternity Pay etc.

NB: Please feel free to apply to us direct via [email protected] by quoting the job reference and job title exactly. SEE DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS AD.

If you have previously applied to one of our vacancies and have already sent the required supporting documentation to us, please make this clear when you re-apply as this will help speed up your application.

To help speed up the process of uploading your CV to the client we would suggest that you send us your CV in Word format (or equivalent) if possible, rather than as a PDF.

If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension you will be working this role at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than entertaining umbrella pay terms, we do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity.