Reporting class 1 contributions
If you’re an employer, you must submit your employees' earnings with the primary and secondary contributions on your combined employer return. This must be done within 15 days after the end of each month.
You’ll need to provide information including:
- who you have employed
- how much you paid each employee
- the date any employees started or stopped working for you that month
Contribution rates and calculator
Completing your combined employer return
Paying your class 1 contributions
Payment of your class 1 contributions must be made within 15 days after the end of each month.
Pay your class 1 contributions
A
statement of account will be sent to you at the end of each quarter so you can check your payments.
Making a mistake on your combined employer return
If you realise that you made a mistake after you've submitted your combined employer return, you need to
resubmit the return.
Getting an advance on salary when out of the island
If you pay your employee before their normal pay day because they will be out of the island, you should make deductions as if they were paid in the usual month and file the contributions return as if the wages were paid normally.
Example of a return with a weeks salary paid in advance
A weekly paid employee takes one week holiday in August and they are paid £250 per week. You pay 1 week of the employee’s August pay in July, but you must show on your return that you paid them in August as normal.
| July | £1,000 + £250 (1 week of August pay)
| £1,000 |
|---|
| August | £750
| £1,000
|
|---|
Short term incapacity allowance and your returns
If you require short term incapacity (sick benefit) to be paid to the business because you pay full wages to employees when they are ill, you must show the pay adjustment in the month that the sick pay was for.
Example of amended return with sick benefit
An employee is ill for a week in August and the sick benefit is paid to you after you have submitted the August return.
You adjust the employee’s wages and contributions by amending the August return, deducting the value of that benefit.
| August | £1,500 | £265.93
| £1,234.07 (£1,500 minus £265.93)
|
|---|
About Class 1 contributions
As an employer you must pay Class 1 contributions for employees earning the
minimum earnings threshold or more.
Class 1 contributions are made up of the primary and secondary contribution.
- Blue card (FR1): both primary and secondary contributions are payable
- Red card (XR1): only the secondary contribution is payable
Primary contribution
The primary contribution must be deducted from your employees’ wages before you pay them.
This is 6% of your employee's monthly or weekly social security gross wage, up to the Standard Earnings Limit (SEL).
Contribution rates
Secondary contribution
The secondary contribution must be paid by the employer.
This is 6.5% of your employee's monthly or weekly social security gross wage, up to the Standard Earnings Limit (SEL).
For any wages paid above the SEL, the employer must pay an additional 2.5% up to the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL).
Contribution rates
Who you have to pay contributions for
You must pay Class 1 contributions for all employees who:
- earn the minimum earnings threshold or more for the pay period
- have a blue (FR1) registration card or a red (XR1) registration card
- are aged between 16 (compulsory school leaving age) and pension age
- are labour only sub-contractors
Don't include the spouse or civil partner of the company or business owner as they pay Class 2 contributions.
Employees working outside the Island
You must still pay contributions for employees temporarily working outside the Island for a Jersey business. There are different time limits depending on where they temporarily work.
Contact us for further details and advise as we may need to issue a Certificate of Continued Liability for the employee.
Employees with more than 1 job with the same employer
If an employee works more than 1 job for the same employer, they must add the earnings from each job to calculate the payable contributions on the total earnings.
Employees with more than one employer
You have an option to set up a single service agreement when two or more employers are employing the same person. This is a private arrangement between the employers.
If the employers agree to it, one of them can complete the monthly combined employer return and combine the earnings from all the employee’s jobs. If the combined earnings is the minimum earnings threshold or more then the primary and secondary contributions must be paid.
If there is no single service agreement between employers, each employer must submit the employee’s earnings separately on their combined employer return, where the Minimum Earnings Threshold is exceeded.
Minimum earnings threshold
You must pay contributions for employees earning the threshold or more.
The threshold you use to calculate the amount of contributions is determined by the payment frequency you pay the employee. Contributions must be calculated over the employee’s gross earnings.
You must calculate contributions over the whole gross earnings for the relevant period, not just the minimum earnings threshold.
When paying contributions for weekly paid employees you should round the wage down to the nearest 25 pence. For monthly paid employees you should round the earnings down to the nearest pound.
We publish the new thresholds in January.
Contribution rates
Calculation of contributions
To help you calculate the amount of contributions you must pay use the
contributions calculator.
You must use employees’ gross earnings to calculate contributions. Gross earnings are employees’ wages before any deductions are made.
Items to include in an employee's gross wages
Items not to include in an employee's gross wages
When paying contributions for weekly paid employees you should round the wage down to the nearest 25 pence.
Monthly paid employees
For monthly paid employees you should round the earnings down to the nearest pound.
Daily
You need to pay contributions as long as the employee earns the weekly minimum earnings threshold or more.
Employees receiving pay after they left your employment
You must treat any wages you pay to employees after they left as if it had been paid in the month they left.
You need to pay contributions if the payment should be included in the employee’s gross earnings.
If you have not submitted your monthly return you can add the extra pay to the amount already paid and show the total amount on the return. If the total earnings are above the monthly earnings limit threshold, only deduct Primary contributions up to the threshold.
If you have already submitted your monthly return you need to send a
replacement return for the month showing the correct pay.
Original earnings
| £4,000
|
|---|
| Calculated primary contribution | £240 |
|---|
| Calculated secondary contribution | £260 |
|---|
| Additional pay | £1,500 |
|---|
| New total pay | £5,500 |
|---|
| 2024 monthly earnings ceiling | £5,450
|
|---|
| Amended primary contributions (6% up to £5,450) | £327
|
|---|
| Amended secondary contributions (6.5% up to £5,450 and 2.5% on £50) | £354.25 + £1.25 = £355.50
|
|---|
Unusual pay practices
Most employers pay their employees on a weekly or monthly basis. However, some employers have unusual pay practices to reduce or avoid paying contributions.
We can recalculate contributions due for all your employees back to when the unusual pay practice started. Contributions will be calculated as if you had followed a normal pay practice.
Keeping a running total of weekly paid wages
Legally you must keep a running total of wages paid of all employees in a calendar month.
You must adjust contributions if a weekly paid employee earns more than the monthly Standard Earnings Limit (SEL).
In the example below, the total cumulative monthly earning is more than the SEL by £190 (£5,640 - £5,450 = £190). You would calculate and deduct the final week's salary primary contributions of 6% over £938 (£1,128 - £190) and not from £1,128.
| 1 | £1,128
| £1,128
|
|---|
| 2 | £1,128
| £2,256
|
|---|
| 3 | £1,128
| £3,384
|
|---|
| 4 | £1,128
| £4,512
|
|---|
| 5 | £1,128
| £5,640
|
|---|
Employees changes in circumstances
Name changes
If an employee changes their name, they must come to the Customer Hub at Union Street. They must bring their current registration card and documentation showing their new name, for example their marriage certificate. We’ll give them a new registration card with their new name.
They should show you their new registration card for you to copy and change their name on your return.
Changes in registration card
If an employee changes their liability, they’ll have to come to the Customer Hub at Union Street and change their registration card.
You should carry on paying the employee’s contributions as if you were holding the old card until you're shown and have a copy of the new card.
Stop working
When an employee stops working for you, you need to enter the date the employee stopped working for you on your combined employer return.
Individuals not liable to primary contributions
An employee does not have to pay primary contributions from the month after they reach pension age and in some other circumstances.
You must stop deducting primary contributions from their wages when you have sight of their red (XR1) card.
You should keep a copy of the new card with a copy of their photographic ID.
Never stop deducting contributions on the word of the employee. The registration card is your only authority to do this.
You must continue to pay secondary contributions and put them on your combined employer return for as long at the employee works for you.
If an employee has exchanged their red (XR1) registration card for a blue (FR1) registration card you must start deducting primary contributions from their wages once you have sight of their new registration card.
Married woman's election and divorce
Some married women can choose not to pay primary contributions by applying for a married woman’s election. They will have a red (XR1) registration card.
If they divorce they must start paying contributions from the first of the month following the date of the decree absolute.
You must start deducting primary contributions from their wages once you have sight of their new blue (FR1) registration card.
You should keep a copy of the new card with a copy of their photographic ID.
Death
You must pay for contributions on all wages up to the date of death.
You can ignore wages paid after the date of death.
Age when an employee becomes liable for contributions
You are not required to deduct contributions from employees who are under the school leaving age and these employees don't get included on your employer's return.
Employees are liable to pay contributions when they reach school leaving age, which is 1 July following the end of year 11.
Contributions must be deducted if the employee earns the minimum earnings threshold or more.
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