Do employer-provided childcare benefits and childcare vouchers count towards National Minimum Wage?
• No. Benefits provided in return for a reduction of cash pay (a salary sacrifice) cannot take pay below NMW rates. Can a person benefit from tax and NICs-free employer-provided childcare or childcare vouchers to contribute towards childcare for a child who is not their own (e.g. if they are a grandparent of the child)? • The legislation allows the exemption to employees who have a ‘qualifying child’. A qualifying child is a child up to 1 Sept following their 15th birthday (16th birthday if the child is disabled) for whom the employee is either: • The actual parent of the child; or • is living with the child and has parental responsibility for the child. • Parental responsibility is defined in legislation as meaning “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and the child’s property”. What should the employer do if childcare registration or approval is withdrawn? • The tax and NICs exemptions applying to
