Casual Payments
This is a special service for paying short-term or ad hoc ‘casual workers’ whose maximum period of continuous employment will be for no more than 12 weeks.
It is run through the University Payroll, with payments made in arrears to individuals. Payment is made by electronic BACS transfer directly into individuals' bank accounts, following receipt of a Casual Payments form submitted by a member of the departmental administrative team. A payslip will be produced advising them of payments, deductions, and net pay.
The Casual Payroll is for staff whose maximum period of expected engagement is no more than 12 weeks. If there is an expectation of working for more than 12 weeks, regardless of the total number of hours to be worked, individuals should be registered onto the main University Payroll with a full University contract from their first day of employment. After 12 weeks of employment certain employees' rights may apply. For more information, please refer to the Personnel Services guidance on employment status.
Note: The same work permit restrictions apply to both casual workers and those on the main University Payroll.
Casual Payments Frequently Asked Questions
Can payments be made to foreign bank accounts?
Payments cannot be made directly into foreign bank accounts via the payroll. These payment requests have to be made through Accounts Payable. This process can take several days longer than payment into a UK bank so the individual should be prepared for a delay. In exceptional circumstances, open cheques for those without a UK bank account can be arranged but only to the maximum value of £500. This method of payment is not recommended.
What if the contract or letter of engagement is for longer than 12 weeks?
If the contract or letter of engagement covers a period of more than 12 weeks, please set them up on a full University contract via Core.
For details about contract and letters of engagement, please refer to the Personnel web pages.
Do I need to take into account holiday pay?
All casual employees will be entitled to holiday pay. See the Personnel web pages.
If the length of the engagement becomes longer than expected and the individual is issued a full University contract, please notify the Casual Payments team by email so that the casual worker record can be closed.
Leavers
The Casual Payments team will close down records and issue P45s if any of the following occur:
- The department notifies the Casual Payments team by email that no further payments will be made to the individual
- The employee contacts the Casual Payments team to request a P45. Casual Payments team will contact the last paying department to confirm that there are no outstanding payments for the employee and ask that they confirm this by email.
- HMRC send a P43 form - PAYE details of employee leaving.
This is usually sent by HMRC when an individual has requested a refund a tax. The Casual Payments team will contact the department to confirm there are no outstanding payments.
In any normal tax year the Casual Payments team manages over 4,000 active individual records. From April 2010 all UK employers are required to issue P60s to all individuals whose record is "live" at the end of the tax year. The University will be charged for each P60 printed so to keep this extra cost to a minimum it is essential that dormant records are closed.
Contact details
For further information, please contact:
Payroll team
Telephone: 01865 (6)16301
Email: payroll@admin.ox.ac.uk