Domiciliary care payroll
Payroll for Domiciliary Care and Home Care Agencies
Domiciliary care payroll that accounts for travel time, variable hours and mileage, from £2.50 + VAT per payslip.
Cardiff-based payroll bureau. Serving employers across the UK.
- Since 2011
- 500+ clients
- 5.0 on Google (16 reviews)
- ICO registered
- Hiscox insured
Home care payroll is built on visits, not shifts. A carer might complete several calls in a morning, drive between each one, and work a different pattern every week. Payroll Service (UK) Ltd is a Cardiff payroll bureau that has run payroll for UK employers since 2011. You send us the hours, travel time and mileage from your rostering system, we pay each carer correctly and handle HMRC, payslips and pensions, so your coordinators can concentrate on covering calls.
Why domiciliary care payroll is different
Home care agencies face payroll risks that residential settings do not, mostly because the working day is spread across the road network.
Travel time between visits
For minimum wage purposes, time spent travelling from one assignment to the next is working time. Travel from home to the first visit, and from the last visit back home, generally is not. If travel between calls goes unpaid, a carer’s average hourly pay can fall below the legal minimum even when the visit rate looks generous.
Averaging across the pay period
Minimum wage is checked across each pay reference period: the pay that counts, divided by the hours that count. From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, so visit time, travel between visits and training time all need to be in the figures.
Mileage and expenses
Mileage paid at or below HMRC’s approved rates is not taxed and does not need reporting. For 2026/27 that is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van, and 25p after that. Reimbursed expenses do not count towards minimum wage pay, so mileage cannot make up for a low hourly rate.
Zero-hours rotas
Most carers work different hours every week. For irregular-hours workers in leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, holiday can accrue at 12.07% of hours worked, or be paid as rolled-up holiday pay shown as a separate item on each payslip.
Training and induction
Time spent training counts as working time for minimum wage purposes. Induction, mandatory refresher courses and competency sessions need recording and paying, even when they happen outside normal visit hours.
Waking nights and sleep-ins
Where an agency also provides overnight support, waking time is working time. Sleep-in time is treated differently where the carer is allowed to sleep and suitable sleeping facilities are provided. We set each arrangement up as its own pay element.
What we need from your rostering system
Most home care agencies already capture what payroll needs: planned and actual visit times, travel between calls, mileage and any cancelled visits you choose to pay. The work is in turning that into accurate pay every week or month.
We work from the export or summary you already produce. For each carer we need hours on each pay rate, paid travel time if you pay it separately, mileage claimed, training hours and any holiday taken. If you build travel into a higher visit rate instead of paying it as a separate line, tell us, so the hours behind the pay are recorded properly.
How travel time is paid is your decision. Some agencies pay an hourly travel rate, some a flat amount per visit, and some an enhanced visit rate. Each can work, provided total pay that counts for minimum wage, divided by total working hours including travel between visits, meets the rate for the carer’s age. Sending us total working hours, travel included, keeps each carer’s pay and hours together in the payroll reports, which makes that check straightforward. Compliance decisions stay with you.
What we handle for you
Everything a home care agency needs from a payroll bureau, run by a named team in Cardiff.
- Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly pay runs
- Visit pay, paid travel time and training hours set up as separate pay elements
- Mileage payments added to payslips at the rates you set
- Holiday pay calculations for zero-hours and irregular-hours carers
- PAYE, National Insurance and student loan deductions
- RTI submissions to HMRC (FPS and EPS) every pay run
- Secure online payslips for every employee
- Starters, leavers and P45s, at no extra charge
- Pension auto-enrolment: assessment, enrolment, re-enrolment and contribution files for NEST, Smart Pension, People’s Pension and others
- Statutory pay: SSP, SMP, SPP and ShPP
- Attachment of earnings orders
- P60s and year end
- Payroll journals and reports for your bookkeeping
- A payment report so you stay in control of paying staff
How it works
Four steps, then the same simple routine every pay run.
Send us your details
Your employees, pay rates and pay frequencies, PAYE reference and pension scheme. Switching mid-year? We bring your year-to-date figures across.
Set up within 24 hours
Your payroll is set up within 24 hours of us receiving the information. We take over from any payroll software or provider.
Send hours each pay run
Send us visit hours, travel time, mileage and training from your rostering or call monitoring system, plus any starters or leavers.
We process and report
We calculate pay, submit RTI to HMRC, deliver payslips and send you the payment report. You pay your staff; we handle the pension submission.
Simple per-payslip pricing
One price per payslip, however many visits, rates and mileage lines are on it.
- No setup fee and no contracts
- No extra charges for starters, leavers, P45s, P60s or year end
- Pension auto-enrolment included in the per-payslip price
★★★★★
“Rhys and the team provide an absolutely exceptional service…”
We run payroll for employers in every sector. If you also run a residential service, our page on care home payroll covers sleep-ins and shift enhancements in more detail. See all our payroll services or read how we work as a UK payroll bureau.
Domiciliary care payroll questions
Do carers have to be paid for travel time between visits?
For minimum wage purposes, time spent travelling between visits is working time, while travel from home to the first visit and from the last visit home generally is not. You decide how travel is paid, for example an hourly travel rate or a higher visit rate, but each carer’s total pay that counts, divided by their total working hours, must meet the minimum wage for their age.
Can you pay mileage through payroll?
Yes. Send us the miles or amounts for each carer and we add them to the payslip as a separate line. Payments within HMRC’s approved mileage rates are not taxed: for 2026/27 that is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van, and 25p after that. Anything paid above the approved rate is taxable.
Our carers are on zero-hours contracts. How is holiday worked out?
For irregular-hours workers in leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, holiday can accrue at 12.07% of hours worked, or you can pay rolled-up holiday pay, which must be shown as a separate item on each payslip. We apply whichever method you use, consistently every pay run.
Do you charge more for carers with lots of visits or pay rates?
No. The price is per payslip, from £2.50 + VAT for weekly and fortnightly payrolls and from £3.50 + VAT for monthly and four-weekly payrolls. Starters, leavers and P45s are included.
Can you work from our rostering system?
Yes. Send us the hours, travel and mileage summary your system produces each pay run, or a spreadsheet if you prefer. We set up a pay element for each type of payment, so your figures are processed the same way every time.
Do you handle pensions for carers?
Yes. Auto-enrolment assessment, enrolment, re-enrolment and contribution files are included in the per-payslip price. Carers whose hours vary are assessed every time they are paid, as the rules require. Read more about our pension auto-enrolment service.
Can you take over from our current payroll provider mid-year?
Yes. We take over from any payroll software or provider, at any point in the tax year, and bring your year-to-date figures across. Setup is within 24 hours of receiving the information.
Do you pay our staff?
You stay in control of payments. We give you the payment report for each pay run and you pay staff from your own bank account.
Payroll that keeps pace with your rota
Tell us how many staff you pay and how often, and we will send you a clear per-payslip quote. You can also email us at sales@payrollserviceuk.co.uk.