Bendles are reminding all Cumbrian businesses that there were a number of recent changes to employment laws in England, starting from the 1st April 2021 onwards:
1. Minimum wage rates
From 1st April 2021, national minimum wage rates are also set to increase.
The new hourly rates are as follows:
- Workers aged 23 and over (National Living Wage) – £8.91
- Workers aged 21-22 – £8.36
- Development rates for workers aged 18–20 – £6.56
- Young workers rate for workers aged 16–17 – £4.62
- Apprentices under 19, or over 19 and in first year of the apprenticeship – £4.30
2. Family leave
The weekly rates of statutory family leave – which includes maternity and paternity leave – will increase by 77p per week on 4th April 2021, rising from £151.20 per week to £151.97 per week.
3. Statutory Sick Pay
Employers are liable for the payment of statutory sick pay (SSP) to eligible employees. The current rate is £95.85 per week, but this is set to rise to £96.35 from 6th April 2021.
The lower earnings limit for eligibility to statutory payments will stay the same at £120 per week.
4. Employment tribunal compensation awards and rates
Employment tribunal compensation rates will increase from 6th April 2021. As of this date, the maximum week’s pay for redundancy pay purposes will increase from £538 to £544
This is important for the purposes of tribunal claims because it means that the maximum statutory redundancy pay, as well as unfair dismissal basic award pay, will both now be £16,320.
The unfair dismissal compensatory award, which is set to compensate the claimant for past and future lost attributed to the dismissal, is a maximum of 52 weeks’ pay, subject to a new maximum of £89,493.”.
The maximum amount of additional award for unfair dismissal, which is set to compensate claimants when employers fail to adhere to a tribunal instruction in order to re-engage them, will rise to £28,288, taking into account average weekly earnings.
For more information on the above or to discuss an Employment Law matter with our specialist team don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.