Frequently Asked Questions Pay Q. What are the contact details for Payroll? A. You can contact the ELFS Helpdesk as follows:- Via their website at www.elfsnhs.co.uk. To do this, you should click on General Enquires, Click select on Payroll/Travel/ESR, and enter the appropriate details. (Payroll Paypoint will be 242 followed by either your station or department) By email on elfs_helpdesk@eltht.nhs.uk By telephone on 01254 732014 By fax on 01254 732379 By writing in to ELFS Helpdesk, Viscount House, 2 nd Floor, Arkwright Court, Commercial Road, Darwen, BB3 0FG Please quote Payroll Paypoint and Assignment number on all correspondence with the helpdesk. Q. What if I have a pay query? A. There are a number of types of pay query and to help with ensuring that queries are dealt with by the appropriate person queries should be routed in the following way Query with additional hours/overtime/on-call/attendance information these queries should be raised with your line manager in the first instance so that they can confirm whether they have reported these to payroll. Query with sickness absence queries regarding the absence period should be raised initially with your manager. If the query is unresolved you should raise with HR who will check your sickness absence record on ESR. If your enquiry is regarding the occupational sickness pay scheme (half-pay or no pay situations) you should contact Payroll. Query with rate of payment (e.g. salary) if you are a new starter or have been recently promoted these queries should be raised with the HR Hub contact details below. All other pay queries these should be raised with the Helpdesk at ELFS HR HUB HR HUB Manager Sarah Moss 0151 261 2579 sarah.moss@nwas.nhs.uk Geraldine Bennett Robbie Williams HR Hub Recruitment 0845 11 22 018 geraldine.bennett@nwas.nhs.uk 0845 11 22 018 robert.williams@nwas.nhs.uk April 2013 v1 Page 1 of 6
HR Hub Transactional Sophie Garner 0151 261 2516 sophie.garner@nwas.nhs.uk Sharon Black 0151 261 2518 sharon.black@nwas.nhs.uk Denise Ryder 0151 261 2545 denise.ryder@nwas.nhs.uk Clare Morris 0161 279 4835 clare.morris@nwas.nhs.uk Karen Geelan 0161 279 4809 karen.geelan@nwas.nhs.uk HR HUB Admin Support Judith Murray 0845 11 22 018 judith.murray@nwas.nhs.uk Q. What happens when I phone the Helpdesk direct? A. The Helpdesk will ask you to confirm your assignment number, name, National Insurance, date of birth, address and contracted hours. It is important to have this information prior to calling, as this will be used to verify your identity. They will endeavour to resolve your query while you are on the phone. However, they may need to call you back if the query is more complex. All calls are logged and you should receive a call reference number either whilst on the call or on a follow up email. Q What happens once I have submitted a written query? A. Once ELFS have received your query, they will log it and review. They will contact you via email, telephone or in writing to respond to the query. If you have provided an email address you will receive the call reference number by email. Q. What are the time limits for responding to queries? A. Once your call has been logged, the target response times are as follows:- Type of Query Who to Contact Response Times No pay or significant Underpayment of pay Helpdesk Within one working day Underpayment of Enhancements or Overtime Helpdesk Within five working days Leavers Payslips and P45's Helpdesk Within five working days Query on Income Tax or Pension Deductions Helpdesk Within five working days General Pay queries - Mat Pay, Tax codes, Deductions from Salary Helpdesk Within five working days Underpayment of Travel Expenses Helpdesk Within five working days Mileage Rates Helpdesk Within five working days Query booked in, estimate within a Pension Estimates Helpdesk month Request for P46 Tax Forms Helpdesk Issued same day Request for Pension Opt Out / Refund forms Helpdesk Issued same day April 2013 v1 Page 2 of 6
Q. What should I do if my query is not resolved within the expected time? A. You need to contact the helpdesk again by any of the methods above, quoting the call reference number, and ask the operator to escalate the query. In this case, you should receive an immediate call / response to clarify the status of the query. Q. How do I change my bank details? A. Any employees who wish to have their salary paid into a different bank/building society account must complete an ESR 5 form Changes to Bank details (available on the Trust intranet) or by using the tear off slip from the payslip. The original ESR 5 form or tear off slip must be completed clearly, signed and submitted to payroll either through the HR Hub or directly to Payroll (please note that photocopies will not be acted upon by payroll). To ensure that the bank details are changed in time the ESR 5 form or tear off slip should be sent to Payroll before the 12 th of the month that you require the change to be made. Q. Where do I send my paper based payroll information (such as car mileage and subsistence forms, lease car mileage forms, mandated deductions (union etc.)? A. All paper based forms should be sent either to the HR Hub, HR Offices, Area Offices or directly to Payroll at the address detailed above. Forms that are faxed over will not be accepted Q. What are the deadlines for submitting payroll details to payroll (e.g. travel and expenses claim forms) and ESR forms? A. Please see schedule for 2013-2014 below. Expense forms have to be received by ELFS by the date shown below if you are sending them through to the HR Hub please ensure that you allow enough time for them to be forwarded to ELFS. Month Travel Claim / ESR Deadline Apr-13 09/04/2013 May-13 09/05/2013 Jun-13 10/06/2013 Jul-13 09/07/2013 Aug-13 09/08/2013 Sep-13 09/09/2013 Oct-13 09/10/2013 Nov-13 11/11/2013 Dec-13 06/12/2013 Jan-14 09/01/2014 Feb-14 10/02/2014 Mar-14 10/03/2014 April 2013 v1 Page 3 of 6
Q. As a manager/user, what are the requirements for completion of the ETAD? A. All entries are supported by authorised supporting documentation, accurate and timely entry onto the ETAD. A sample check is completed by the approver as per audit guidelines. All ESR forms are authorised and emailed to the HR Hub Team using the correct ESR forms email address. ESRforms.GM@nwas.nhs.uk ESRforms.CAL@nwas.nhs.uk ESRforms.CAM@nwas.nhs.uk NWASleavers@nwas.nhs.uk Have an awareness of when the ETADs are available for completion and the date that they need to be completed and approved. Please see table below for the 2013-2014 timetable Month ETAD to be sent from ELFS ETAD APPROVAL DEADLINE Apr-13 20-Mar-13 08-Apr-13 May-13 20-Apr-13 08-May-13 Jun-13 20-May-13 07-Jun-13 Jul-13 20-Jun-13 08-Jul-13 Aug-13 20-Jul-13 08-Aug-13 Sep-13 20-Aug-13 06-Sep-13 Oct-13 20-Sep-13 08-Oct-13 Nov-13 20-Oct-13 08-Nov-13 Dec-13 20-Nov-13 05-Dec-13 Jan-14 20-Dec-13 08-Jan-14 Feb-14 20-Jan-14 07-Feb-14 Mar-14 20-Feb-14 07-Mar-14 Q. How do I ensure that payroll forms will be processed accurately and on time? A. There are a number of principles to adhere to when completing forms General Ensure that forms are submitted in line with the dates above. Always ensure that forms are authorised by the appropriate manager (forms will be returned, not processed, where they have not been appropriately authorised) Travel, Expenses and Subsistence Always ensure that the columns are correctly completed, totalled and ruled off (a line should be drawn under the last entry on the claim form to make clear where the last entry is) prior to authorisation from your manager. Forms not totalled or completed incorrectly will be returned and not processed. Q. If my expenses claim is sent in late when can I expect payment? A. Late claims will be paid the following month April 2013 v1 Page 4 of 6
Q. Where can I find my assignment number? A. Your employee assignment number can be found on the top left hand corner of your payslip. Q. What happens if I have been overpaid? A. As an employee, you have a duty to notify the Trust or Payroll as soon as any overpayment identified. Overpayments will be normally be deducted over the period that the overpayment was made (e.g. if there is a one month overpayment, then this will be recovered in one lump sum the following month). If you leave within the period of recovery the remainder of overpayment will be deducted from your final salary. Q. If I have been underpaid, how soon will I be paid my outstanding monies? A. In order for a payment to be made the line manager must send all the relevant information. The line manager must also copy in the relevant HR lead. The following can be used to pay any outstanding monies Chaps will only be considered if they are requested within the deadline of seven working days after pay date, any request received after the deadline will be processed through the next month s payroll. The minimum payment must be a gross payment of over 200. Net amount payable. Advances will only be considered if they are requested within the deadline of seven working days after pay date, any request received after the deadline will be processed through the next month s payroll. The minimum payment must be a gross payment of under 200 any amounts of under 50 (net). Will be paid in the following month s payroll process if not submitted in time for the Supplementary payroll. Supplementary Payroll is available for additional payments which have been omitted from the normal monthly payroll. Month Final date for Chaps/Cheque Supplementary Payroll Deadline Date Supplementary Pay Day Apr-13 07/05/2013 30/04/2013 03/05/2013 May-13 05/06/2013 31/05/2013 31/05/2013 Jun-13 05/07/2013 01/07/2013 04/07/2013 Jul-13 06/08/2013 30/07/2013 02/08/2013 Aug-13 05/09/2013 30/08/2013 03/09/2013 Sep-13 08/10/2013 01/10/2013 04/10/2013 Oct-13 05/11/2013 29/10/2013 01/11/2013 Nov-13 06/12/2013 29/11/2013 04/12/2013 Dec-13 04/01/2013 03/01/2014 03/01/2014 Jan-14 05/02/2014 31/01/2014 03/02/2014 Feb-14 07/03/2014 05/03/2014 06/03/2014 Mar-14 07/04/2014 31/03/2014 03/04/2014 April 2013 v1 Page 5 of 6
Following month payroll process will be used for any payments where the net value is lower than 50 net. Q. How can I log a pension query? A. All pension queries should go through ELFS helpdesk Q. I have requested an Estimate of NHS Pension benefits. How long will this take? A. NHS pension estimates are completed by the Payroll Team and take approximately one month to complete. Sometimes there are difficulties with the online NHSPA website which may delay the estimate. You can apply for an estimate yourself by using the following link to request an estimate www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/2735.aspx. Q. How can I get more information on the NHS Pension Scheme? A. Visit their web site at www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pensions, where you will find all the latest links to the booklets and guides within the scheme. Q. How do I obtain a copy P60? A. Unfortunately, there are no copies of this form. So you should be careful to file away upon receipt. In the absence of the P60 form, the same details are recorded on the March/Mth 12 payslip. In the event that this is unacceptable and in exceptional circumstances, then ELFS can provide Statement of Earnings Letter detailing your earnings for the relevant tax year. REMEMBER TO FILE YOUR P60 CAREFULLY Q. I have left North West Ambulance Service but I have not received my P45. Can I get a copy? A. A duplicate P45 cannot be issued. In the event of your copies going astray, you should obtain and complete a P46 form from your new employers who can use it to apply for your previous earnings details from Her Majesty s Revenue and Customs. Q. What is my PAYE Tax reference? A. Your tax reference is used when contacting Her Majesty s Revenue and Custom, and is employer specific. Tax Reference HMRC Contact Number 106/BU271 0845 3000 627 April 2013 v1 Page 6 of 6