Senior solicitor Andrea Corr, in our Employment Law team, summarises changes coming into effect from April 2022 that will affect both employers and employees.
National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage
From 1 April 2022, both the National Living Wage (those aged 23 and over) and the National Minimum Wage (for those aged 16 – 22) are to increase. The new hourly rates and increases are as follows:-
|
Rate from April 2021 |
Rate from April 2022 |
Increase |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Living Wage (NLW) |
£8.91 |
£9.50 |
6.6% |
|
21-22 year old rate (NMW) |
£8.36 |
£9.18 |
9.8% |
|
18-20 year old rate (NMW) |
£6.56 |
£6.83 |
4.1% |
|
16-17 year old rate (NMW) |
£4.62 |
£4.81 |
4.1% |
|
Apprentice rate |
£4.30 |
£4.81 |
11.9% |
|
Accommodation offset |
£8.36 |
£8.70 |
4.1% |
Family Leave
For statutory family leave, which encompasses Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) the weekly rates will increase to £156.66 per week (from £151.97) on 3 April 2022 (the first Sunday in April).
Statutory Sick Pay
All eligible employees (and some workers) are entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). From 6 April 2022, the rate will increase to £99.35 per week (from £96.35). For eligibility purposes, the lower earnings limit (LEL) will increase from £120 to £123 per week; this will represent the first increase to the LEL for two years.
Statutory Redundancy Pay
The cap on the value of a week’s pay, which is used to calculate Statutory Redundancy Pay for employees earning above that amount, will increase to £571 per week (from £544) with effect from 6 April 20222.
The overall maximum Statutory Redundancy Pay, based on 20 years’ service at an age multiplier of 1.5, therefore increases to £17,130 (from £16,320).
Employment Tribunals
Employment Tribunal compensation rates are also set to change from 6 April 2022.
A successful Claimant’s Basic Award is calculated in the same way as Statutory Redundancy Pay (see above).
Where a Claimant is judged to have been unfairly dismissed (other than in automatic unfair dismissal cases), they are entitled to a compensatory award of a maximum of 52 actual weeks’ pay, subject to an overall cap. That capped allowance rises to £93,878 (from £89,493).
Our specialist Employment Law team can advise on the full range of Employment Law matters.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
