In this episode: Zero-Hours Reform, Umbrella Liability and Payrolling Benefits | Payroll Question Time

Payroll Question Time is brought to you by SD Worx. SD Worx offers smart, tailored and integrated HR and Payroll solutions, along with the local expertise, global reach and reliable service you need to grow your business today!

UK payroll is in one of its busiest consultation periods yet. Are your processes ready for changes that haven't even been finalised?

In this episode of Payroll Question Time, host Steve Yardley and our expert panel break down the most pressing consultations and compliance deadlines hitting payroll teams right now. From zero-hours contract reform and SSP qualifying day pitfalls, to umbrella company liability rules and mandatory payrolling of benefits. With the Fair Work Agency expanding its powers and April 2027 approaching fast, this is essential viewing for every payroll professional in the UK.

From zero-hours SSP edge cases and unpaid carers' leave proposals to P11D deadlines and devolved tax thresholds, this session covers the operational, compliance, and strategic issues you need to act on today.

We cover:

• SSP qualifying days for zero-hours workers and a common employer misconception

• Zero-Hours Contract Consultation: guaranteed hours and the 12, 26, or 52 week reference period debate

• Hours worked versus hours paid: the practical gap payroll systems cannot solve

• Why zero-hours reform could create an ongoing obligation, similar to pension re-enrolment

• Unpaid Carers' Leave Consultation and what evidence gathering means for employers

• Ethnicity pay gap reporting: why a firm start date still doesn't exist

• Devolved tax thresholds in Wales and Scotland, and the push to align announcement dates

• Managing World Cup related absence, annual leave requests, and SSP under the new day one rules

• The Fair Work Agency's growing powers and the shift from individual tribunal claims to direct enforcement

• Holiday pay compliance risk and the scale of underpayment employers still aren't addressing

• P11D and PSA deadlines, common referencing errors, and what qualifies for a settlement agreement

• Mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind from April 2027: phase one covering cars, vans, fuel, and medical

• New and dropped reporting fields for company cars and medical benefits

• Umbrella company joint and several liability from April 2026 and what it means for agencies

• Why HMRC will not accept bills of exchange as payment of tax

Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications to stay updated with every Payroll Question Time and the latest insights on UK payroll changes 2026 and ongoing payroll legislation updates.

Learn more about SD Worx Academy training courses: https://www.sdworx.com/en-en

Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/691ee4…

Steve Yardley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syardley/

Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content!

Our Panel:

Simon Parsons, Director of UK Compliance Strategies, SD Worx

Mathew Akrigg, Policy & Advisory Leader, CIPP

Samantha Mann, Payroll Team Manager, Armstrong Watson LLP

Karen Thomson, Head of Payroll, Armstrong Watson

Richard George, Payroll Consultant & Industry Leader

Steve Yardley, Host, Managing Director, JGA Recruitment Group

Timestamps:

(00:00) Welcome & Panel Intro

(06:31) SSP Qualifying Days for Zero-Hours Workers

(08:38) Zero-Hours Contract Consultation Deep Dive

(29:29) Unpaid Carers' Leave Consultation

(34:58) Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting

(37:54) World Cup Workforce Planning & Absence Management

(44:06) Fair Work Agency & Holiday Pay Enforcement

(54:19) Devolved Tax Thresholds: Wales & Scotland

(58:11) P11D & PSA Deadlines

(1:02:48) Mandatory Payrolling of Benefits in Kind

(1:15:34) Umbrella Market Liability, IR35 & Bills of Exchange

(1:20:44) Wrap-Up & Next Session

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Most businesses think payroll is working. People get paid, deadlines are met, and no one raises a flag. But compliant payroll is not the same as strategic payroll, and in a regulatory landscape that is shifting faster than most employers realise, the gap between the two has never been more costly.

In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Julie Gunnell, Associate Director of Growth Payroll at Azets, one of the UK's leading accountancy and business advisory firms, to make the case that payroll is no longer a back-office function. It is a compliance risk, a strategic asset, and a direct reflection of how much an organisation respects its people.

This is not just a conversation about processing pay. It is a conversation about what is coming, what most employers are not ready for, and why the payroll profession is quietly becoming one of the most important functions in any business. Julie and Nick explore the three game-changers that have transformed the profession, auto-enrolment, furlough, and the imminent arrival of the Fair Work Agency, and why the FWA represents the most fundamental shift in how businesses manage HR and payroll data that the UK has ever seen.

They also cover why six-year holiday record retention from April is a wake-up call for every employer, how payroll data is one of the most underused strategic assets sitting inside any organisation, why salary sacrifice and benefits review should be on every employer's agenda right now, the case for making internal payroll audits a non-negotiable part of the annual calendar, and why the next generation of payroll professionals, many of them post-graduates, are choosing payroll as a deliberate, informed career decision.

It is not just about getting the numbers right.

It is about the trust, compliance, and business intelligence sitting behind every single payslip.

And if you are not thinking about payroll that way yet, this episode will change that.

Whether you are a payroll professional navigating the wave of regulatory change heading your way, an HR or finance leader trying to understand the real risk sitting inside your payroll function, or a business owner who has never questioned whether your payroll is truly working for you, this episode will give you a new way of seeing one of the most business-critical functions in your organisation.

This episode is sponsored by Deel

Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide.

See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday

Guest and Host:

Connect with Julie Gunnell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliegunnell/

Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea

Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7

Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction and Meet Julie Gunnell, Associate Director of Growth Payroll at Azets

(01:49) What Payroll Really Means and Why Julie Calls It the Best Profession in the World

(03:29) How Julie Fell Into Payroll and the Mentors Who Built Her Foundation

(06:30) Bureau vs. In-House and Why Processing for Multiple Clients Changes Everything

(08:50) The Three Game-Changers: Auto-Enrolment, Furlough, and the Fair Work Agency

(14:55) AI in Payroll: Powerful Tool, Not a Replacement

(19:16) The Next Generation and Why Post-Grads Are Choosing Payroll as a Career

(23:10) Julie's Proudest Moment: Getting Payroll a National Shout-Out on BBC Radio 2

(27:13) Growth Meets Compliance and How Julie Balances Both at Azets

(31:01) Payroll as a Strategic Asset and the Data Your Business Isn't Using

(34:39) Why Every Employer Needs Regular Internal Payroll Audits

(37:35) The Future of Payroll: Recognition, Qualifications, and What's Coming Next

Most payroll professionals spend their careers heads down, processing pay, managing compliance, and keeping systems running. But the payroll leaders who will still be standing in ten years are the ones lifting their heads up right now, investing in their people, embracing AI before it is forced on them, and refusing to let the profession stay invisible.

This is the final episode of our three-part Payroll Congress 2026 series, recorded live on the floor in Nashville. Host Nick Day is joined by co-hosts Tom Croughton and Natalie Lloyd for an unmissable set of conversations with some of the most committed, forward-thinking payroll professionals in the world.

Throughout this episode the conversations cover the real shift happening inside payroll teams right now. Jen Ballack shares how she used AI to write a Python script with zero coding knowledge, recalculating qualified overtime for 2,000 employees in under five minutes. Michelle Clawson breaks down why the language payroll professionals use about their own function is silently holding the entire profession back. Jonny Nash exposes why payments has always been the forgotten part of payroll. And Brian Sparling, attending his very first Payroll Congress as the newly appointed Chair of the CIPP, reflects on why payroll professionals everywhere share the same challenges regardless of country, currency, or regulation.

The pace of change in payroll has stopped being a story we tell ourselves. It is the operating condition. AI is no longer a future conversation. The question has moved from should we to where, how, and with what guardrails. And the talent question remains the quietest crisis in the profession.

Because you will never know everything. And the minute you think you do, that is the first step to your downfall.

This episode is sponsored by Deel

Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide.

See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday

🎙️ Guests and Hosts:

Connect with Nadia Camarena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-camarena-cpp-b213894a/

Connect with Jen Balak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-balak-cpp-a198461/

Connect with Michelle Clawson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleclawson/

Connect with Carlyn Davis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlyn-davis-cpp-35988485/

Connect with Jonny Nash: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathonnash/

Connect with Brian Sparling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sparlingbrian/

Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Connect with Tom Croughton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-croughton/

Connect with Natalie Lloyd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalielloyd94/

Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea

Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7

Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction & Welcome to the Payroll Congress 2026 Finale

(01:32) Meet Nadia Camarena: Global Vision Award Winner from Netflix

(05:26) The Power of Community, Networking & Giving Back at Congress

(07:49) AI & Early Wage Access: Hot Topics at the Executive Summit

(09:56) Tom & Natalie: First Timer Experience at Congress Nashville

(11:38) How AI Talks Have Evolved: From Theory to Real Practice

(19:56) Jen Balak & Michelle Clawson: AI in Action at Agilent Technologies

(28:31) Michelle's Talk: Why Payroll Language Is Holding the Profession Back

(43:58) Carlyn Davis: Community Commitment & Top Education Grant Winner

(50:38) Jonny Nash: Payments, The Forgotten Ugly Duckling of Payroll

(57:24) Brian Sparling: New CIPP Chair on Lifelong Learning & Embracing Change

(01:07:10) Closing Reflections: AI, Talent & the Operating Condition of Payroll