Five Employment Law Changes From April 2021

April 8, 2021 Professional Comment

This month sees the introduction of a raft of new changes to employment law, including some crucial details that Care Providers should keep in mind when it comes to minimum wages and contracting.

Alison Gill, HR Manager at advo outlines the employment law changes which Care Providers need to be aware of:

National Minimum Wage – Rates apply with effect from 1 April 2021
The National Living Wage now applies to those aged 23 and over. Previously this was for those aged 25 and over.

Workers aged 23 and over: From £8.72 an hour in 2020, increased to £8.91 an hour (National Living Wage)
Workers aged 21-22: From £8.20 per hour in 2020, increased to £8.36 an hour
Development rate for workers aged 18-20: From £6.45 an hour in 2020, increased to £6.56 an hour
Young workers rate for workers aged 16-17: From £4.55 an hour in 2020, increased £4.62 an hour
Apprentice rate: From £4.15 an hour in 2020, increased £4.30 an hour

Family Friendly Statutory Rates of Pay – Rates apply from 4 April 2021.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) – First six weeks – 90 per cent of employee’s average weekly earnings. Remaining weeks at £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90% per cent of earnings if lower.
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) – First six weeks – 90 per cent of employee’s average weekly earnings. Remaining weeks at £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90% per cent of earnings if lower.
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) – paid for two weeks. £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) – £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) – £151.97 (was previously £151.20 in 2020) or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – Rate applies from 5th April 2021

The same weekly SSP rate applies to all employees. However, the amount you must actually pay an employee for each day they’re off work due to illness (the daily rate) depends on the number of ‘qualifying days’ they work each week. The current rate is £95.85 per week since 6 April 2020 and is set to rise to £96.35 from 6 April 2021. The lower earnings limit in relation to eligibility to statutory payments is to stay the same at £120 per week.

ET compensation awards and rates

It has been confirmed that employment tribunal compensation rates are set to increase from 6 April 2021. As of this date, the maximum week’s pay for redundancy pay purposes will increase from £538 to £544. However, statutory guarantee pay will be staying at £30.

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, set to compensate claimants when employers fail to adhere to a tribunal instruction to re-engage them, taking into account average weekly earnings, will rise to £28,288.

Family leave

The weekly rates of statutory family leave – eg Maternity/paternity leave, etc. – will increase by 77p per week on 4 April 2021, from £151.20 per week to £151.97 per week.

IR35

The IR35 legislation, which aims to ensure that contractors are paying the appropriate amount of tax, is also changing for some private sector businesses.

The majority of contractors are required to determine their own status as employee or contractor. From 6 April 2021, this liability will pass to medium and large-sector clients. Smaller clients will be exempt from this obligation and the contractor remains liable for determining their own tax status.

Lucy Pearce, Commercial Director of advo comments: “There are many changes for Care Providers to adjust to from April 2021 onwards and they should seek further advice if they are unsure on any aspects of the new employment legislation.

“To help employers understand each element of these new changes and to ensure full compliance with employment legislation, we have launched the UK’s first, fully integrated platform – advo-one – which enables employers to control their payroll, HR and employee benefits, through a single, secure login.

“Unlike many self-service employer portals, every advo-one client journey is fully supported by advo people. advonians are experts dedicated to providing advice and guidance across the range of services, every single step of the way.

“Care providers can access detailed reporting for HR and payroll, including contract reviews; easy-to-use online holiday and sickness reporting; and essential news and legislation updates.

“advo-one also features BACs approved payroll software compliant with HMRC, RTI and auto enrolment. It helps employers to fully manage furlough claims submissions; calculates pension contributions and auto enrolment; gives employee access to online payslips through advo-one; and provides access to detailed payroll reporting. advo-one is supported by dedicated payroll experts on hand to provide support and guidance.

“advo-one can be accessed anytime from anywhere and care providers can have their own portal, company branded, supported by access to advo experts. There is also a huge choice of benefits on offer, including employee perks, health insurance and wellbeing, which make managing staff simple, connected and effective.

“The advo platform is designed for the modern workplace – it’s a hire-to-retire people solution.”

advo-one is more than software as it features qualified advice built in, providing employers with support in areas that they need it. The platform also offers simplified access for employees – a single login to see HR docs, Payslips, P60’s, P11d’s, available benefits and staff discounts. Designed to increase efficiency and employee engagement, advo-one provides the expert support and software needed to manage each service individually, or together.

Since 1997, advo has focused on quality of service and advice and has grown to be one of the UK’s largest independently owned advisory firms, providing all-encompassing services to support employers, throughout the employee lifecycle. With Payroll and HR added to the firm’s expertise, advo can now deliver all the essential employee support services.

advo currently manages staff benefits and payroll for just under 1,500 employers and the health insurance needs of countless individuals. Over the years, advo has developed a reputation for cost control and customer service excellence, leading to the firm being recognised as the UK’s ‘best’ advisory firm by peers on numerous occasions.

For further information, please visit http://www.advogroup.co.uk or telephone 01622 769210.