Increases to the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) take effect from Thursday 1 April 2021
The increases range from 1.5% to 3.8% and the National Living Wage is also extended so that it will now apply to workers aged 23 and over, rather than workers over 25 years old.
- the NLW for workers aged 23 and over, increases to £8.91 per hour;
- the NMW for workers aged 21-24, increases to £8.36 per hour;
- the NMW for workers aged 18-20, increases to £6.56 per hour;
- the NMW for workers aged 16-17, increases to £4.62 per hour;
- the NMW for apprentices increases to £4.30 per hour.
In addition, from 1 April 2021 employers must keep records to demonstrate that it is paying at least the applicable minimum wage for six years (previously three years) and this will apply to records made before 1 April 2021.
Increases to the limits for tribunal awards and calculations take effect from 6 April 2021
The cap for a weeks’ pay (for the purposes of the statutory redundancy calculation or basic unfair dismissal award) increases from £538 to £544.
The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases from £88,519 to £89,493 (or remains 12 months’ pay, whichever is lower)
Statutory payments increases take effect from 4 April 2021
The prescribed rate for a week’s pay for statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave increases from £151.20 to £151.97 from 4 April 2021.
The off-payroll working rules are extended to private sector from 6 April 2021
The intention of the rules is to counter non-compliance with IR35 and seeks to shift the compliance burden from the worker’s personal service company to the medium and large “client” organisations that they work for, by treating the client organisation as an employer for income tax and NICs purposes. Employers and workers affected should review their contracts and seek further advice where required.
For any advice and information on employment matters and how the Employment team can help, please contact Rabika Basran.