Certain information is not recorded in the payroll system, and so must be determined by you and entered manually when you are generating the XML file.
The report is divided into ten parts. The items not entered automatically by the system are detailed below:
Part 1 – Number of Persons Employed
The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 became law on 1st April 2000. You are asked to indicate the number of employees in receipt of:
- €12.70 per hour or less from 1 January 2024
The National Minimum Wage Rate does not apply to:
- Close relatives of the employer, such as a spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister
- Apprentices, other than apprentice hairdressers
- Trainees
- Job Vacancies at End of Quarter
You are asked to indicate the number of job vacancies in your organisation as at end of the quarter. A is defined as a post (newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant) which the employer intends to fill either immediately or in the near future. For the purpose of this survey, job vacancies that are to candidates from within the enterprise should be excluded.
Part 4 – Total Number of Paid Hours Not Worked
Depending on whether you record absence and leave information in the payroll system, the following items may or may not be automatically entered in the XML file. They include paid absences during the quarter for full-time employees, part-time employees and apprentices/trainees.
- Annual Leave (Full-Time Employees)
- Annual Leave (Part-Time Employees)
- Maternity Leave (Full-Time Employees)
- Maternity Leave (Part-Time Employees)
- Sick Leave (Full-Time Employees)
- Sick Leave (Part-Time Employees)
- Other Leave (Full-Time Employees)
- Other Leave (Part-Time Employees)
- All Leave for Apprentices
Part 5 – Employer's Pension Contributions
- Employer's Pension Contributions (not accounted for through payroll)
This refers to the employer's contribution only for all employees, including apprentices/trainees. Do not include the employee contribution.
Part 6 – Employer's Liability Insurance
- Employer's Liability Insurance
Please note that if you have a combined insurance policy you must only include the portion of the premium that relates to employer's liability.
If the employer's liability insurance is paid by an annual premium, then this amount should be entered only in the quarter in which it is paid.
If this insurance is paid in more than one instalment, then the amount to be entered is the actual amount paid during the quarter.
Part 7 – Total Employer's Social Security Contributions for ALL EMPLOYEES
- Income Continuance Insurance
- Other Employee Related Payments (such as Study Grants)
- Total Social Security Contributions (Apprentices)
If possible, the figures for redundancy payments should be net of any rebates paid or payable by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
However, if only the gross amount of redundancy payments can be provided in Part 7, then the rebates from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment must be included under Part 10 "Refunds from Dept. of Social Protection/ Dept. of Enterprise, Trade & Employment".
A breakdown of figures is not required for apprentices/trainees, only total employer's social security contributions.
Part 8 – Total Cost to the Employer for Benefits Provided to Employees
- Stock Options and Share Schemes
Part 8 as a whole refers to the total net cost of all goods and services made available to employees (excluding apprentices/trainees) by the employer.
General rule: The amount to be entered is the cost to the employer of providing the benefit, less any amount contributed by the employee. If the benefit is taxable (i.e. a benefit in kind), then the amount of 'notional pay' calculated for the purpose of making returns to the Revenue Commissioners may be entered as the cost to the employer.
These costs mainly consist of:
- Private use of company cars (not the value or cost of the car)
- Stock options and Share purchase schemes: The cost of Stock options should be calculated as the difference between the market price of the shares on the vesting date and the price charged to employees. This value will not be generated by the system when you're creating the XML file.
- Voluntary sickness insurance (VHI, Quinn Healthcare, etc.)
- Staff housing
- Other free or subsidised benefits (e.g. parking, meals, mobile phone, canteen, creche, free or discounted company products, preferential loans, sports & recreational facilities, professional subscriptions, etc.)
Part 9 – Total Other Labour Costs for ALL EMPLOYEES
These include expenditure on training services and facilities, expenditure on participation in courses, the fees of instructors from outside the enterprise, expenditure on teaching aids and tools used for training, sums paid by the enterprise to training organisations, etc. Do not include apprentices'/trainees' wages.
- Other Expenditure (e.g. Recruitment Costs)
This includes:
- Recruitment costs (these are the sums paid to recruitment agencies, expenditure on job advertisements in the media, travel expenses paid to candidates called for interview, installation allowances paid to newly recruited staff, etc. It does not include administration running costs (office expenses, staff wages, etc.)
- Relocation costs (sums paid to employees to cover relocation expenses, etc.)
- Working clothes provided by the employer
Part 10 – Total Subsidies and Refunds Received for ALL EMPLOYEES
- Training Subsidies (such as FAS)
- Other Subsidies (such as IDA employment Subsidies)
- Refunds from Social Welfare (such as Sick and Maternity Benefits)
Subsidies received are all amounts received intended to refund part or all of the cost of wages and salaries and training costs (e.g. FAS, etc).
Refunds from Department of Social & Family Affairs: This is the amount received/receivable by the employer from the Department of Social & Family Affairs to refund part or all of the cost of the wages and salaries of employees on paid sick leave or maternity leave etc. These refunds should only be entered in Part 10 if the amount received/receivable from the Department is included under Regular Wages & Salaries in Part 2.
Refunds from Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment: This is the rebate received/receivable from the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment in respect of statutory redundancy payments. These refunds should only be entered in Part 10 if the amount received/receivable from the Department is included under Redundancy Payments in Part 7.