The Parking Plus salary sacrifice scheme, which some staff members use to pay for parking permits at Gilmorehill, Garscube and Tay House, is to close at the end of March 2018.

Human Resources' Performance, Pay and Reward team have contacted staff to explain the changes.

Parking Plus is a salary-sacrifice contractual arrangement between the staff member and the University, where an individual gives up the right to receive part of the salary due under their employment contract and in return the University provides a non-cash benefit of a parking space. Paying for a parking space via salary sacrifice allows staff to make savings on tax and National Insurance contributions, resulting in an increase to their take home pay.

Last year, the Government announced changes to the tax treatment of some benefits that employers provide through salary sacrifice arrangements, and these changes came into effect in April of this year. The changes affected the Parking Plus scheme and as a result of these changes the scheme was withdrawn and closed to new applications.

Short-term protection arrangements were put in place for members of staff who were in possession of a valid permit at 1st April 2017, and who were paying for their permit through the Parking Plus salary sacrifice scheme. This enabled them to continue to benefit from the National Insurance and tax savings until 31st March 2018.

As the protection period will soon come to an end, HR have outlined the way the change will impact on staff. With effect from 1st April 2018, parking charges will be taken as a deduction from net salary each month. This will increase the amount of National Insurance contributions and income tax (if applicable) that those with parking permits pay, leading to a reduction in take home pay.

This alteration to the salary sacrifice arrangements is driven by legislative changes, and not by the University. It is also unrelated to the consultation on the proposed changes to car parking arrangements at Gilmorehill, Garscube and Tay House. These separate revisions are expected to be introduced in August 2018, and are aimed at creating a new and fairer system for the allocation of car parking permits.

HR say that for those affected, the change will happen automatically and individuals will not need to take any further action.

If you want further information or advice, please contact: 

hr-ppr@glasgow.ac.uk 

First published: 19 December 2017

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