National Minimum Wage Increases At the end of 2022, it was announced that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will be increasing from April 1st 2023.
As a reminder following our January employment law update, below is a breakdown of the current rate, the future rate, and the % increase:
| Current Rate | Rate From April 2023 | % Increase |
National Living Wage | £9.50 | £10.42 | 9.7% |
21-22 Year Old Rate | £9.18 | £10.18 | 10.9% |
18-20 Year Old Rate | £6.83 | £7.49 | 9.7% |
16-17 Year Old Rate | £4.81 | £5.28 | 9.7% |
Apprentice Rate | £4.81 | £5.28 | 4.6% |
At The HR Consultancy we are aware that this is big news for our clients, combined with the rising energy bills and inflation, many small business will be worried about additional staff costs.
If you would like any advice or support on preparing for the upcoming National Living Wage increase please contact us. Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay Also Increasing Alongside the April NMW increases, both Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) will be increasing from April 10th. SSP is going to rise from £99.35 to £109.40 per week. SMP, and other payments which correlate including paternity (SPP), adoption (SAP), parental bereavement (SPBP), and shared parental (ShPP), will also be increasing. This will rise from £156.66 to £172.48 per week. The earnings threshold to be entitled to SSP, SMP and others will remain at £123 per week. These increases have been made in line with current rates of inflation during the ongoing cost of living crisis. If you have employees off on sick or maternity leave etc. in the lead up to April, you must remember to factor in the increases for impacted employees if their absence continues past the change date, and for those who take leave following the change. Harpur Trust VS Brazel Holiday Ruling Set To Be Overturned Last year in the landmark Harpur Trust vs Brazel case, the Supreme Court ruled that part-year workers should be entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday entitlement, rather than a pro rata amount proportionate to the amount of work they carry out. This ruling had major implications, particularly for the education sector where there are a high proportion of term-time only workers as well as short-term roles like exam invigilators. The Government has now launched a consultation into this ruling, stating that: "part-year workers are now entitled to a larger holiday entitlement than part-time workers who work the same total number of hours across the year. The Government is keen to address this disparity to ensure that holiday pay and entitlement received by workers is proportionate to the time they spend working.” The consultation is scheduled to last 8 weeks and will come to a close on March 8th 2023. Many are anticipating that the ruling will be overturned. As an employer though, at this stage it is not certain that the legislation will pass and when this will be. If your organisation is likely to be impacted by this decision, we would suggest regularly reviewing your annual review system in line with the latest updates on this case. If you need support looking at part-year worker holiday entitlements, please get in touch with us. If you have any HR queries please give a member of the team a call today, on 01926 853388, or email angela.roberts@arhrconsult.com. Visit www.arhrconsult.com for more information.
Comments