There have been a number of key changes to employment law so far this year for the benefit of employees.
1. Minimum wage increase – 1 April 2018
The National Living Wage is the minimum rate paid to workers aged 25 and over and the National Minimum Wage is for ages up to 25.
From £7.50 to £7.83 for 25+ year olds
From £7.05 to £7.38 for 21 to 24 year olds
From £5.60 to £5.90 for 18 to 20 year olds
From £4.05 to £4.20 for 16 and 17 year olds
From £3.50 to £3.70 for apprentices.
2. Statutory family-related pay – 1 April 2018
Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental rates increased from £140.98 to £145.18 per week from 1 April 2018.
3. Gender pay gap – 4 April 2018
This impacts employers with at least 250 employees and they are required to publish information about the differences in pay between male and female workers. The deadline for the private and voluntary sector was 4 April 2018. There is a requirement for employers to publish this data on company websites as well as upload results to the Government’s gender pay gap reporting website.
4. Statutory sick pay – 6 April 2018
Statutory sick pay weekly rates increased from £89.35 to £92.05.
5. Taxation of termination payments – 6 April 2018
Termination of employment that takes place on or after 6 April 2018 will be subject to new rules. All notice pay will be treated as earnings and subject to tax and national insurance contributions, removing the distinction between contractual and non-contractual PILONs (payments in lieu of notice). This means first £30,000 of a termination payment remains exempt from income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs). But payments over £30,000 will be liable for income tax and employer NICs.
6. Auto-enrolment contributions increase – 6 April 2018
Unless you have formally opted out of your company auto-enrolment pension scheme, contributions will have increased from one percent of your salary to three percent as of 6 April. The good news for employees and bad news for employers is that employers will also have had to double their contributions from one to two percent.
7. Increase in compensatory awards – 6 April 2018
The maximum amount for a week’s pay used to calculate statutory redundancy payments increased from £489 to £508 per week. As from 6 April 2018, the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal rose from £80,541 to £83,682.
8. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) – 25 May 2018
Increased rights for workers to consent to, and have access to, personal information held about them by their employers.
Source:
https://www.pillingerandassociates.co.uk/7-big-changes-employment-law/
Please note that this information is for guidance only and does not constitute personal advice. Any information provided in this article regarding tax treatment or legislation is based on our understanding of current UK legislation law, tax law and HM Revenue and Customs practice (July 2018), all of which may be subject to change and your individual circumstances may impact on these. The FCA does not regulate tax advice. Brunsdon is not responsible for the content of external web sites.
