Public Sector Exit Payments

December 21st, 2015 by James Goudie KC

H M Treasury has issued a Consultation Paper, for response by 25 January 2016, on the final draft Regulations pursuant to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 allowing for the recovery of public sector exit payments when a high earner returns to the public sector shortly after leaving. There are changes including as follows to the previous proposal. 

The Government proposes to replace the stipulation that exit payments are recovered when an individual returns to the same part of the public sector with the proposal that public sector exit payments are recovered when an individual returns to any part of the public sector. The amount paid back will be net of tax paid.

The previous starting point was that recovery would apply only to individuals earning at or over £100,000. The Government now proposes to set the minimum salary at which the recovery provisions apply at £80,000 per annum.

The Government proposes to remove the full recovery period during which exit payments should be repaid in full on returning to a public sector body. As such, the taper begins from the first day after a public sector employee has exited.

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