Class 1 contributions for employers

Submitting and paying your employees’ contributions

If you’re an employer, you must submit and pay your employees’ contributions on your combined employer return. This must be done 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

Completing your combined employer return

There are other ways you can pay for your employees contributions. Find more details on pay your contributions and instalments.

A statement of account will be sent to you at the end of each quarter so you can check your payments. If you cannot pay the contributions you owe on your account, contact us.

Making a mistake on your contributions return

If you realise that you made a mistake after you've submitted your combined employer return, you need to resubmit the return.

If you have missed an employee off completely, you must resubmit the return for the month, including the missing employee.

Showing holiday pay on your return

If you pay your employees’ holiday pay before their normal pay day you should deduct contributions as if the wages were paid on the normal day.

For example, a weekly paid employee takes a week holiday in August and they are paid £250 per week. You pay the employee’s holiday pay in July but you must show on your return that you paid them in August.

Showing benefit deductions on your return

You only need to show Social Security benefit deductions on your return if you continue to pay normal wages to employees when they’re ill. They need to give you the value of the benefit they receive.

We put a credit on the employee’s account for each day that we pay benefit. These credits protect their Social Security record against the loss of earnings.

You must show the adjustment on the return as if it had been made in the month the employee was ill. Your wage records will be different from the return. Make a note that this is due to the Social Security benefit.

For example, an employee is ill in August and you continue to pay their normal wage. They give you the value of the Social Security benefit in September after you have submitted the August return. You'll need to adjust the employee’s wages and contributions in September.

Month Normal wage Social Security benefit Wages to show on the replacement return

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 of the primary and secondary contribution.he reference code on the back of an employee's registration card tells you which contributions you should deduct from their wages:

• FR1 or blue card: both primary and secondary contributions are payable
• XR1 or red card: only the secondary contribution is payable

Primary contribution

The primary contribution must be deducted from your employees’ wages.

This is 6% of your employee's monthly or weekly gross wage up to the Standard Earnings Limit (SEL). The SEL for 2023 is £5,060 per month.

You should deduct the primary contribution from your employee’s gross wages before you pay them.

Contribution levels you and your employer pay

Secondary contribution

The secondary contribution must be paid by the employer.

This is 6.5% of your employee's monthly or weekly gross wage up to the Standard Earnings Limit (SEL). The SEL for 2023 is £5,060 per month.

For any wages paid above the SEL, the employer must pay an additional 2.5% up to the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL). The UEL for 2023 is £23,072.

Contribution levels you and your employer pay

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 registration card marked FR1 on the back (blue card) or XR1 (red card)
• are aged between 16 (compulsory school leaving age) and pension age
• are labour only sub-contractors
• are not the spouse or civil partner of the company or business owner

Some employees may have elected not to pay primary contributions. They will have a card marked XR1 (red card). You must still pay secondary contributions of 6.5% for these employees and include them on your monthly combined employer return.

You do not have to pay contributions for or include on your return:

• employees working less than the minimum earnings threshold
• sub-contractors. For more information visit labour only sub-contractors
• employees aged under 16 (compulsory school age)
• the spouse or civil partner of the company or business owner. These are classed as being a Class 2 contributor.

You also do not have to hold a registration card for them.

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 1 job with different employers

You can set up a single service agreement when 2 or more employers are employing the same person. This is a private arrangement between employers and is optional.

If the employers agree to it, 1 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’s no single service agreement between employers, each employer must submit the employee’s earnings separately on their combined employer return. 

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.

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.

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 (£5,250 - £5,060 = £190). You would calculate and deduct the final week's salary primary contributions of 6% over £860 (£1,050 - £190) and not from £1,050.

Employees changes in circumstances

Name changes

If an employee changes their name, they must come to Customer and Local Services. 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.

How to register with Social Security to pay contributions

Changes in registration card

If an employee changes their liability, they’ll have to come to Customer and Local Services 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 stop working for you, you need to enter the date the employee stop working for you on your combined employer return.

Working after pension age

An employee does not have to pay for primary contributions from the month after they reach pension age and you must stop deducting 6% from their wages.

You must continue to pay secondary contributions of 6.5% and put them on your contributions return for as long at the employee works for you.

The employee must exchange their registration card for a new registration card.

Death

You must pay for contributions on all wages paid up to the date of death.

You can ignore wages paid after the death.

Choosing not to pay contributions

Some employees can choose not to pay contributions.

Once we have approved this, the employee must exchange their blue registration card marked FR1 for a new red registration card marked XR1. They’ll ask you for their registration card if you have it.

You need to carry on deducting primary contributions of 6% from their wages until they show you their new red registration card marked XR1. 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.

Choosing to start paying contributions

An employee who has chosen not to pay contributions can cancel it at any time.

They’ll need to exchange their social security red registration card marked XR1 for a blue registration card marked FR1.

Do not start deducting primary contributions of 6% from their wages until they give you the registration card.

Turning 16 years old

An employee must start paying contributions from the first day of the month they turn 16 years old.

If the employee earns the minimum earnings threshold or more, you have to pay contributions for them. If the employee earns less than the minimum earnings threshold you do not have to pay contributions for them.

Non-paying married woman and divorce

Some married women can choose not to pay contributions by applying for a married woman’s election. If they divorce they must start paying contributions from the first of the month following the date of the decree absolute. 

The employee must:

• tell us she’s divorced
• provide the date of the decree absolute
• exchange her current red registration card marked XR1 for a blue new registration card marked FR1

You should keep a copy of the new card with a copy of their photographic ID.

Married woman's election