Payroll’s most-asked questions in September

Members asked ASKTPC thousands of real payroll questions over the past ten weeks. Here’s what’s topping the list this month – and what you need to know.

How is holiday pay calculated?

The most-asked question of the month. Holiday pay should reflect what a worker would normally earn, not just basic pay — that means including regular overtime, commission and other recurring payments, averaged over the 52-week reference period. Using basic pay alone is one of the most common sources of back-pay claims.

How do I calculate SSP?

Since 6 April 2026, SSP has been payable from the first day of sickness absence – the old three-day waiting period and the lower earnings limit were both scrapped under the Employment Rights Act 2025, so eligibility no longer depends on how much an employee earns. Pay whichever is lower: the flat weekly rate (£123.25 for 2026/27) or 80% of average weekly earnings, calculated over the eight weeks before the sickness began.

How are pension contributions handled during maternity leave?

Employer contributions must continue at the normal rate throughout paid maternity leave, calculated on the employee’s normal pay rather than their reduced statutory pay. Employee contributions, by contrast, are usually based on whatever pay the employee actually receives during that period.

What do employers need to know about mandatory payrolling of benefits from April 2027?

From 6 April 2027, company cars and fuel, vans and van fuel, and private medical benefits move onto real-time payroll reporting instead of the annual P11D. HMRC’s updated RTI Data Item Guide already sets out the new fields payroll software will need to support – worth reading now, not in March.

How does salary sacrifice work during maternity leave?

Salary sacrifice arrangements are typically suspended once pay drops to the lower rate of statutory maternity pay, because sacrifice can’t reduce pay below that statutory floor. Agree in advance how any non-cash benefits funded by the sacrifice continue to be provided while the arrangement is paused.

Which payments are pensionable – PILON, redundancy, holiday pay, overtime?

It depends entirely on the scheme rules. Statutory redundancy pay and PILON are not pensionable; holiday pay and regular overtime often are, if the scheme’s definition of pensionable pay includes them. Check the specific scheme documentation rather than assuming a standard answer applies.

The numbers behind this month’s questions

ASKTPC answered a payroll question roughly every 30 minutes during the working day across August and September.

The clearest example: 22 different members independently asked the exact same question – “How is holiday pay calculated?” – It’s one of the questions payroll teams return to again and again, however experienced the team.

• Sick pay (SSP and company sick pay) had the widest reach – 17% of everyone who used ASKTPC asked about it
• Maternity leave and SMP tied with benefits in kind, P11D and payrolling benefits as the joint second most-asked topic – 16% of members asked about each. With mandatory payrolling landing in April 2027, expect that benefits-in-kind share to keep climbing
• Rounding out the top six: salary sacrifice (13%), pension contributions (14%), and National Insurance and the apprenticeship levy (14%) – each still asked by around one in seven members