What to do when an employee dies
Reporting a workplace death
You must report a death in the workplace (except in Northern Ireland) to the:
- police
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
HSE Incident Contact Centre
0845 300 9923
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm
Report a workplace death in Northern Ireland to the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI).
You must report any deaths or serious injuries, even if the employee is working off-site at the time.
Paying an employee who has died
You must make all outstanding payments when an employee dies.
Put the date they died into the ‘Date of leaving’ field in your next Full Payment Submission (FPS), and deduct tax using their existing tax code. Don’t deduct and pay National Insurance or produce a P45.
Payments to a person who has died are usually made to the personal representative or executor of that person’s estate.
If you make a mistake
If an employee dies and you didn’t report it in the right FPS, follow the guidance for when an employee leaves.
Making a late payment
If you need to pay someone after you’ve sent an FPS with their ‘Date of leaving’ (the date they died):
- use tax code 0T on a ‘week 1’ or ‘month 1’ basis
- include their ‘Date of leaving’ and put ‘Yes’ in the ‘Payment after leaving indicator’ field in your FPS
- choose ‘H - Correction to an earlier submission’ in the ‘Late payment reason’ field
- update the year-to-date figures - or if it’s a new tax year, make sure the year-to-date figures only include the additional payment
Paying a pensioner who has died
You must make all outstanding payments when someone receiving your company pension dies.
Put the date they died in the ‘Date of leaving’ field in your next Full Payment Submission (FPS), and work out their final pension payment.
Working out tax
Use their existing tax code unless it’s a new tax year by the time you pay them.
If it’s a new tax year and you haven’t reported their ‘Date of leaving’ (the date they died) on an FPS yet, use their new tax code. Otherwise, use tax code 0T on a ‘week 1’ or ‘month 1’ basis and put ‘Yes’ in the ‘Payment after leaving indicator’ field in your FPS.
Payments to a person who has died are usually made to the personal representative or executor of that person’s estate.
If you pay someone after their death
If you’ve made a pension payment to someone after they died (eg because you were told about their death late), you should get the overpayment back from their executor.
Put the pensioner’s ‘Date of leaving’ (the date they died) on your next FPS, and choose ‘H - Correction to an earlier submission’ in the ‘Late reporting reason’ field.
If you don’t know the date they died, put the date of their final pension payment as their ‘Date of leaving’.
Amend the year-to-date figures if you get the overpayment back.
If it’s a new tax year by the time you find out a pensioner has died:
- put ‘0.00’ in the year-to-date figures for pay and tax in your FPS
- send an Earlier Year Update (EYU) for the previous year’s overpayment if you get it back
Made Smarter WM
Made Smarter is a national movement to drive growth amongst UK makers and advance the UK economy. Backed by world renowned businesses and the UK government, it will improve the development and adoption of emerging technologies. Making a real, everyday difference to people from the boardroom to the factory floor.
Looking for work, or have vacancies to fill?
CW Employment Solutions offers a service for job seekers and employers, recruiters and education leavers, to connect, find jobs, post vacancies and access the wealth of support measures that have been implemented across the region.
Client testimonials
GET IN TOUCH
Local office: 0300 060 3747
Email: support@cwgrowthhub.co.uk
About
Part of the Government-supported growth hub network
© Copyright 2016-2023 by CW GrowthHub. All Rights Reserved.