Overview
All persons who are over the age of sixteen (16) and who have not yet reached the retirement age of 65, and who are in insurable employment, are liable to pay Social Security Contributions. Social Security contributions are paid in weekly rates, and each year of gainful occupation will carry 52 or 53 social security contributions (depending on the annual number of Mondays) on the payee’s contribution record.
Permissions
You will need the Manage Payroll permission to be able to access payroll. Here you will be able to view the employees' social security calculations.
How is Social Security calculated?
For employees working fixed hours or on a casual part-time basis (irregular, non-fixed hours), Social Security Contribution (SSC) or National insurance (NI) is calculated as follows:
Employees on a Fixed Schedule
For employees working on a fixed schedule (Full time or Part-time), the calculation is as follows (in the case of monthly payrolls):
Gross (Basic Amount) x 12 months / 52 weeks x 10% (or SSC bracket applicable) x number of Mondays in the payroll period.
In the case of non-monthly payrolls, the Gross is first multiplied by the number of payrolls in a year (for example, this would be 13 periods in the case of a four-weekly payroll).
For example: Ann Mizzi's basic annual salary is €25,000. The employee was born on the 1st of April 1989.
Her September 2023 payroll NI workings would be the following:
€25,000/12 months = €2083.33 (monthly basic wage) x 12 months /52 weeks = €480.77 (basic weekly wage).
This places the employee under Category C2 (see below screenshot). Therefore, NI is calculated at 10% of the weekly wage:
NI = €480.77 x 10% = €48.07
Number of Mondays in September 2023: 4
NI calculation for September 2022: €48.08 x 4 = €192.32
The figure is rounded up/down to the nearest two decimal places and is reported as such in the FS3.
You will be able to see the employee's NI workings on the payslip by clicking on the tooltip icon near SSC:
Employees on an Irregular Schedule
For employees working on a non-fixed/casual/irregular schedule, the calculation is as follows:
For example: Mary Camilleri's basic hourly rate is €8/hour. The employee was born on the 1st of May 2002.
Her September 2023 payroll NI workings would be the following:
Hours worked in September: 57. She also has 3 hours from public holidays in the quarter . Total hours worked in September = 60. Gross wage for September = 60 hours x €8 =€480.
€480 x 12 months / 52 weeks = €110.77 (basic weekly wage).
This places the employee under Category B (see below screenshot).
Category B is calculated using one of two methods. Either:
- B1: Number of SSC Mondays x the €19.27; or
- B2: If the employee chooses, Number of SSC Mondays x 10% of the basic weekly wage
In Mary Camilleri's case, her profile is set up to calculate NI on the 10% rate if she falls under category B:
Therefore, NI is calculated at 10% of the weekly wage:
NI = €110.77 x 10% = €11.08
Number of Mondays in September 2023: 4
NI calculation for September 2023: €11.08 x 4 = €44.32
The figure is rounded up/down to the nearest two decimal places and is reported as such in the FS3.
Please note that Category B2 applies only to the employee NI. The employer/company NI is always calculated on the full €18.28 for weekly wages falling under Category B. Therefore, the employer NI in this case would be €19.27 x 4 = €77.08.
You will be able to see the employee's NI workings on the payslip by clicking on the tooltip icon near SSC:
Basis of NI Calculations
By default, fixed employees' NI is calculated on the basis of their annual salary.
However, if necessary, Talexio users can choose from the following options:
- Based on salary and any Special rates & Extra basic hours;
- Based on payslip basic;
- Based on salary, excluding Special rates & Extra basic hours.
These options can be found in each employee's position under Other Payroll Information.
- Based on salary and any Special rates & Extra basic hours - this is the default setting for fixed employees. This means that an employee's NI will be calculated based on their Annual Salary + any additional hours worked;
- Based on payslip basic - this is the default setting for non-fixed (casual/irregular) employees. This means that the weekly wage is calculated each month. Since such employee is unlikely to receive the same salary each month, the employee will likely have multiple rows of NI in their FS3;
- Based on salary, excluding Special rates & Extra basic hours - this option can be selected to limit NI workings to the basic salary only.
What if an employee doesn't pay Social Security?
An employee may not have to pay NI contributions because of the below scenarios:
- The employee pays NI at another place of work (for example, the employee has a full time job elsewhere and works on a part time basis with you). In such a case the user needs to select 'Don't pay NI' in the employee's details page;
- The employee is on an irregular hour job schedule (casual worker), and the employee did not work any hours within a particular month. Here, both the employee and the employer do not pay SSC contributions during that month;
- The employee does not earn more than €35.86 per week. In such case, if the employee still wishes to pay NI, 'Pay NI if min. wage' needs to be ticked in the employee's details page;
- The employee does is younger than 16 or older than 65. Here, the employee does not pay NI and MLF and do not receive Sickness Benefit Deduction. In such a case, Talexio will automatically disable NI payments without the need to switch on any switches in the employee's profiles.
Why does an employee have 5 contributions whilst the others have 4?
You might come across an instance where an employee has one more contribution than the rest of the employees. For example, let's take the February 2022 payroll. An employee has begun employment on the 1st of February and has 5 contributions in the February payslip. There are 4 Mondays in February, so the employees should pay 4 contributions. So how does this employee have an extra contribution?
The reason is simple. While, NI contributions are considered as 'Mondays', NI needs to be paid for each week an employee works. So in the case where an employee started employment on the 1st of February, the week Monday 31st January - Sunday 6th February also needs to be included in the NI calculation.
For employees who were already employed with the company, this contribution is paid in the January payroll (as the 5th contribution for January for the week starting Monday 31st January).
And if the new employee was employed with another company prior to joining your company (and has previous payroll data saved on Talexio), then this employee will pay 4 contributions. But in the case where this is the employee's first employment of the year (and obviously there is no previous payroll data for such employee), then the employee will need to pay 5 contributions.