On May 25th 2018, The UK will undergo the biggest changes to its Data Protection laws in more than 20 years. This is namely GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation and it will replace the current Data Protection Act from 1998. This will have a considerable effect on payroll processing for accountants so its important to know the facts.
What You Need To Know
- GDPR will harmonise data protection laws across the EU. It will update current regulations to reflect globalisation fully, and ever changing technological progress.
- It will apply to any company processing the personal data of individuals in the EU in relation to offering goods and services, monitoring the behaviour of these companies and their use of data.
- If a company breaches the GDPR, significant penalties can apply. Fines of up to €20 million can be imposed or 4% of the annual turnover of the business, whichever is higher.
- The level of fine will depend on the kind of breach, but the fines are designed to firmly punish any employers who disregard the GDPR.
How Does This Affect Payroll Processing for Bureaus
Under the current data protection laws, employers must provide employees and applicants a privacy notice, which sets out certain information. When GDPR is introduced, employers may now need to provide more detail including
- How long personal data is stored for
- Whether data will be transferred to other countries
GDPR also gives employees the right to have their personal data removed. Yet some organisations need to comply with other regulations that require the retention of certain information, such as financial data. Therefore, if an employee requests that their payroll data is removed, it is the companies’ responsibility to anonymise or encrypt that data.
There is also a mandatory breach reporting requirement, where employers must notify and provide key information to the data protection authority within 72 hours of any breach.
Those managing the payroll for bureaus will need to provide details on how and why data is processed to employees of the company. They will be responsible for certain regulatory responsibilities. If there is a large amount of sensitive data, a Data Protection Officer should be appointed to ensure everyone is compliant.
What Effect Will Brexit Have on GDPR?
The UK will continue to be part of the EU until 2019, so the GDPR will apply until then at least when new UK data protection regulation will apply. Even when Britain leaves the EU, any companies that provide products or services to EU citizens will still be legally required to comply with GDPR.
Bureau Payroll Software to Help You Stay Compliant
Choosing bureau payroll software offers you an easy and efficient way to stay up to date with the latest changes in legislation. Accountancy payroll software can help smooth the process and ensure that you are not in breach of any regulations.
For the expertise and software to deal with these changes, talk to Primo Payroll on 00 44 (0)845 456 7181, or email support@accentra.co.uk to find out more. Our head office is based at Unit 2A, Bourne Court, Unity Trading Estate, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 8HD.
