Burnetts Bitesize Bulletin

Dates for your diary! April 2021 – Changes to rates and limits.

As well as a gradual relaxation of some of the Lockdown rules in the UK, April 2021 also brings some important changes to Employment law rates and limits, which HR teams should be aware of to make sure they remain compliant.

This includes:

• Changes to the National Minimum Wage

From 1 April 2021:

Source: UK Government Low Pay Commission 2020 Report

Changes to Statutory Sick Pay

• From 5 April 2021 – Weekly rate increases to £96.35 (up from £95.85).

Changes to statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave pay.

• From 4 April 2021 – Weekly rate increases to £151.97 (up from £151.20).

Employers should also be aware of some changes to statutory caps and compensation limits in the Employment Tribunal from 6 April 2021, including:

• Increase in the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal to £89,493 (up from £88,519); and

• Increase in the maximum basic award /statutory redundancy payment to £16,320 (up from £16,140); and

• Increase in the “week’s pay” cap to £544 (up from £538) for a basic award in unfair dismissal cases and statutory redundancy payments; and

• Increase to minimum basic award for automatic unfair dismissals on trade union, health and safety, occupational pension scheme trustee, employee representative and on working time grounds only to £6,634 (up from £6,562).

In addition to the above changes, April also presents a reform to the IR35 regime for the private sector, aimed at reducing tax avoidance for contractors employed through personal service companies. Further details on the changes to IR35 can be found here.

Please contact Burnetts’ Employment Law & HR team at hello@burnetts.co.uk or 01228 552222 if you require any assistance in preparation for any of these updates.