Service Days Pay Giving (aka Days Pay Scheme)

For serving personnel.

Welsh Guardsmen have always over the years looked after Welsh Guardsmen and it is very much hoped this will continue into the future with today’s generation voluntarily signing up to the Days Pay Scheme like those before them – with nearly 100% of serving Welsh Guardsmen already generously giving in this way, it is very much hoped that the remaining few will join up also.

Introduced in 1964, the Forces wide “Day’s Pay Scheme (DPS)” allowed serving personnel to make a contribution into their Regimental or Corps benevolent funds amounting to a taxable day’s pay (with the tax claimed back by their Regiment or Corps using a Deed of Covenant).  This day’s pay would be deducted 4 times a year directly from your pay at a rate of 25% each time.  At the outset, the Welsh Guards decided that all officers would pay two day’s pay a year (200%) and the remainder  one day (100%).

In 2006 on the roll-out of JPA this scheme changed to become the Service Day’s Pay Giving.  Under the new scheme a day’s pay was no longer deducted “Net” (so including tax which could be claimed back) but was to be deducted “Gross” which resulted in Regimental Benevolent Funds receiving less income.  To counteract this loss Regiments and Corps were permitted to set their own rate and the likes of the RLC [for instance] set their rate at 120% of a day’s pay for OR’s and 170% for Officers, whilst the Welsh Guards set the amount to:

• Guardsmen to Lance Sergeant -118%
• Sergeants to Warrant Officer -119%
• Officers - 238% (keeping with the traditional 2 day’s pay scheme amount)¹

These percentages enable the individual to pay slightly less than under the old scheme whilst enabling Regimental benevolent funds to maintain roughly the same level of income as previously.  For example;

Old (1964) Scheme - LCpl Bloggs paid 100% of a day’s “net” pay (for example £75 net) into the scheme, so £75 taxable at 20% = £90 paid each year by LCpl Bloggs (with the £15 tax claimed back by the Regiment).  Cost to LCpl Bloggs = £90.

New (2006) Scheme - Under the new scheme, LCpl Bloggs would pay a day’s “Gross” pay (so not taxable) of £75, a loss to the Regiment of £15 (as there is no longer any tax to claim back).  To make up for the tax which could previously be claimed back, it was decided in 2006 that LCpl Bloggs would pay 118% of a day’s “Gross” pay = £88.50.  Cost to LCpl Bloggs = £88.50.  

Deductions from pay are no longer quarterly, they are now monthly with 1/12 of [in this example] 118% of a day’s pay being deducted each month (which is what serving personnel will see on their monthly pay-slip as Service Day’s Pay Giving).  It cannot be emphasized enough just how critical this money is to the running of the Regimental Welfare and Benevolent Funds.  The scheme ceases automatically on discharge.

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