Picture this, it's Wednesday, the 26th of November. Budget papers are absolutely everywhere. Hazel, our well-being officer, is nosing through a stack of pay slips like she's sniffing out hidden tax. I'm juggling NI, wage rises, and a cup of tea that went cold ten minutes ago. Quick heads up before we start. When I say Rachel from Accounts today, I mean the Chancellor in Westminster, not our actual Rachel in Finance, who is a delight and would never freeze tax bans for sport. Hazel heard Rachel from Accounts and immediately hid her eyes with her paws. She's worried her biscuit allowance will be taxed next. Give it a year. Here's the question what if all the autumn budget headlines say one thing? But the reality for your people and payroll is something else? Kettle on. Cake at the ready. Let's translate it into plain English you can actually use. Welcome. Hello, I'm Kate. This is Buzzing About HR, the Budget Special. Autumn Budget 2025. What it really means for small businesses? Short, sharp, UK only, no fluff. Hazel is supervising. She takes payment in biscuits. Treasury, please look away. Why this matters right now? Budgets aren't abstract, they move real money. They change what lands in pay slips, what you hand over in employer NI, and whether you hire now or hold. If you run a small business, you've been volunteered again. Wage floors up Tax thresholds frozen pension tweaks a couple of sweeteners to make the medicine go down. Today we'll focus on what actually hits you and what to do this week so January doesn't clobber you. The big movers what changes in human words. Minimum living wage rises from April 2026. National living wage for age 21 plus goes to£12.71. Younger bands and apprentices rise too. Good for people's pockets, heavy for payroll. When hourly pay goes up, everything tied to it also goes up. Holiday pay, pension contributions, employer NI. Think dominoes, not single tiles. Tax thresholds frozen to 2030-31. This is the quiet squeeze. You give a pay rise, but more of it is pulled into tax because the bands don't move. Staff feel like they're running on a treadmill. Expect, why hasn't my take home gone up much? Chats. Rachel from Accounts the Chancellor calls it fairness. Your pay slips call it hmm. Apprenticeships win for small and medium enterprises. Training costs for under 25 apprentices in small and medium enterprises are covered. You still pay their wages, but the course fees are funded. If you use it properly, real job, real learning. This is a genuine pipeline builder. Salary sacrifice cap for pensions from April 2029. Right now, salary sacrifice can cut NVI on pension contributions. From 2029, that NI saving is capped at the first£2,000 of sacrifice pay per person per year. Above that, normal NI applies. Most junior staff won't notice. Directors and senior hires will. It blunts one of the few efficient reward tools at the top end. Business rates reform. Retail, hospitality, and leisure on the high street get a permanent nudge down. The bill is partly picked up by the larger high-value sites, big warehouses, etc. Translation, shops, cafes, salons, modest relief. Industrial units and out-of-town offices don't expect fireworks. Fuel and EVS. Fuel duty stays frozen until September 2026. Helpful, and then we head towards road pricing for EVs from 2028, a small per mile charge. If you run vehicles 2026 to 2028 are decision years. Don't go by stickers and headlines. Do the sums properly. Dividends and the wealthy nudges. Dividend tax rates rise by two percentage points. If you pay yourself via a blend of salary charged rent dividends, there's more drag. Not fatal, but it all adds up. There's more noise on investment allowances, sugar, gambling duties, and so on, useful footnotes. The bullets above are the ones most SMEs feel first. What this means for people and payroll, no jargon. One. Wage floors jump if your labour heavy, hospitality, care, retail, cleaning, costs rise across the board. It's not just the hourly rate, it's holiday, pension, and employer NI2. Build that whole picture, not just the headline. Two, pay compression headaches. When the bottom goes up, the gap to supervisor's slash line lead shrinks. That's where resentment lives. You either lift the layer above or redraw duties so the gap feels fair again. Third, take home confusion. Staff see a rise in the grossest number and expect the net to follow. Frozen thresholds dull the effect. Have a short, friendly explainer ready so managers aren't trying to do tax class in the break room. Four. A real chance to grow your own. With training funded for under 25 apprentices, you can bring in talent without a training bill. The catch. Treat them like learners, not spare hands. Clear job, clear mentor, and protected study time, or they'll leave. 5. Senior reward needs a rethink. That pension salary sacrifice cap from 2029 reduces the NI saving for high contributors. Start sketching what total reward looks like without leaning on that lever. Mix of base, bonus, profit share, employer pension, maybe equity if relevant. 6. Location matters again. High street operators may finally get a small breath on business rates. If you're on an industrial estate or in a big shed, assume little to no love. Read your bill, don't guess. 7. Fleet and mileage choices. Fuel duty freeze helps now. EV road pricing starts later. Do total cost of ownership per vehicle. Fuel slash electricity. Maintenance depreciation grants. Then decide. What to do this week? Practical, not painful. Recost 2026 pay. Plug£12.71 into your£21 plus rates. Update youth chock apprentice bans and add on costs, employer NI, pension, holiday. Sanity check margins, prices, hours and headcount. Hope is not a spreadsheet. Decompress your bands. Look at current gaps between new starters and team leads. Decide small lift for the layer above or reshape the role so the difference is obvious. Write the logic down. Get ahead of NetPaychats. Draft a one pager. Why your take home may not rise as fast as your pay. Keep it human. No tax lectures. Use plain examples. Say yes no to apprenticeships. If yes, pick roles, shortlist providers, name mentors, and draft a simple 90-day plan. If no, write down why so you don't keep circling it every month. Audit salary sacrifice. Pull a list, who's sacrificing what? Flag anyone near or above£2,000 a year. Start a calm chat with directors, senior hires about post-2029 reward. Not urgent, but not a surprise either. Rates check, don't guess. When your draft business rates land, read them. If you save, decide whether that money keeps you steady or funds something useful. Kit, training, energy efficiency. Fleet maths. For each vehicle, diesel versus EV total cost. Put a decision gate in your diary for renewals. No one size fits all. Do the boring maths once, then you're sorted. And yes, have a slice of cake while the spreadsheet whirrs. Morale matters. Hazel will accept biscuits. Chancellor, please avert your gaze. How to talk to your team and keep trust. Be honest about the squeeze. We're lifting pay where the law changes and will keep roles fair. But tax thresholds are frozen nationally, so take home may not jump as much as the headline. Explain the why behind bans. Publish the responsibilities at each level. If people see the why, they accept the what. Share your apprenticeship plan. We're bringing in under 25 apprentices in roles X slash Y slash Z. Training is funded. They'll have named mentors and a route to a permanent job if they pass. Reset expectations on perks. With future limits on pension salary sacrifice, shift away from clever tax tricks and towards benefits everyone can use. Sensible flexibility, skills, childcare support, basic well-being that actually helps. Quick UA, the things you'll get asked. Will everyone over 21 be on£12.71 from April 2026? Yes, that's the new national living wage for 21 plus. Younger bands and apprentices also increase. Why does my take home feel flat after a pay rise? Because tax thresholds haven't moved. A bigger chunk of your pay falls into tax than before. It's not the company being tight, it's how the system's set. Are under-25 SME apprentices fully funded for training? Yes. The government covers the training cost for under-25s in SMES. You still pay their wages and you still need a real job and a mentor. Do I need to change salary sacrifice now? No. The NI Saving Cap starts in April 2029. But if you or your senior team sacrifice more than£2,000 a year, start planning what your package looks like after that date. I'm a small high street operator. Will my rates drop? That's the direction of travel. Wait for your bill, then bank the saving or reinvest it in something that helps you stay open. We run vans, stick or twist on EVS. Do the numbers. Today's fuel freeze helps diesel. Tomorrow's road pricing matters for EVs. Total cost over three to five years will give you the honest answer. Are dividends really going up? Yes. Dividend tax rates rise by two percentage points. If you pay yourself that way, chat to your accountant and adjust your drawings plan. And Hazel's Biscuits. Taxed yet? Not yet. But she's practicing her pause over eyes just in case the Treasury discovers gravy bones. The do next list. Pin this. Budget your 2026 wage and on costs with the new floor. Reteer roles. So supervisors' leads aren't compressed. Communicate thresholds and net pay clearly. Decide on apprenticeships and set up the structure. Map salary, sacrifice users and sketch your 2029 plan. Read your business rates bill and adjust plans. Run EV versus diesel. Total cost for fleet decisions. Back to the avalanche of budget paper. Hazel has turned the payslip pile into a pillow. Honestly, same headline. This budget sounds pro-worker and pro-growth. Underneath, small businesses are carrying a lot of the load again. You can handle it, but only if you run the numbers now and talk to your people early. I've made a budget impact checklist so you can blitz this in under an hour. Wage flaws, bans, comms, apprenticeships, salary sacrifice, rates, fleet. Download the checklist, link in the show notes. If you want me to pressure test your numbers or script your staff update, book a quick chat. I'm nice. I bring cake and I don't do waffle. I'm Kate. This is Buzzing About HR. Kettle on, standards up. See you next time.