April 2018 Employment Law Updates

Employment Law

April 2018 Employment Law Updates

1 April 2018 – New NMW & NLW rates

New national living wage (NLW) and national minimum wage (NMW) hourly rates come into force from 1 April 2018.  The new rates are as follows:

  • The NLW rate for workers aged 25 or over increases from £7.50 to £7.83 per hour.
  • The NMW for workers who are aged 21 but not yet 25 increase from £7.05 to £7.38 per hour.
  • The NMW for workers who are aged 18 but not yet 21 increases from £5.60 to £5.90 per hour.
  • The NMW for workers who are under 18 increases from £4.05 to £4.20 per hour.
  • The apprenticeship rate increases from £3.50 to £3.70 per hour (for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship).

 

1 April 2018 – Family friendly payments

From 1 April 2018, statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory paternity pay (SPP), statutory adoption pay (SAP) and statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) will rise to £145.18 a week.

 

4 April 2018 – Gender pay gap reporting: data snapshot

All private and voluntary sector employers with at least 250 employees will be required to publish information annually about the differences in pay between men and women in their workforces.  Employers must base their pay data on a ‘snapshot’ of their pay bill on 5 April 2017, and annually thereafter, with the first reports needing to be published by 4 April 2018.

For more information, click the link below:

www.acas.org.uk – gender pay gap reporting

 

6 April 2018 – Statutory sick pay

On 6 April 2018, statutory sick pay (SSP) will increase to £92.05.

 

6 April 2018 – National Insurance thresholds

From 6 April, National Insurance thresholds will increase as follows:

  • Class 1 lower earnings limit – £116 per week
  • Class 1 upper earnings limit – £892 per week

 

6 April 2018 – Pensions auto-enrolment earnings thresholds rise

For the tax year 2018/19, the lower level of qualifying earnings for pensions auto-enrolment will increase to £6,032 and the upper level of qualifying earnings will increase to £46,350.  The earnings trigger for auto-enrolment will remain at £10,000.

 

6 April 2018 – Employer contribution into a pensions auto-enrolment scheme

From 6 April there will be an increase in the minimum level of employer contribution into a pensions auto-enrolment scheme from 1% to 2%.

 

6 April 2018 – Employment tribunal compensation limits

Tribunal compensation limits will increase from 6 April 2018.  The new rates are:

  • Limit on guaranteed payments – £28
  • Limit on a week’s pay – £508
  • Minimum basic award for unfair dismissal – £6,203
  • Maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal – £83,682
  • Minimum compensation for exclusion/expulsion from a trade union – £9,474

 

6 April 2018 – Increases to income tax allowances and thresholds

From 6 April, the personal income tax allowance will increase to £11,850 and the higher rate tax threshold to £46,350.

 

6 April 2018 – Change to tax treatment of payments made in lieu of notice

All payments in lieu of notice (PILON), whether contractual or not, will be subject to Income tax and Class 1 national insurance contributions based on the amount of basic pay that an employee would have received if they had worked their notice in full.

Click the link below for more information:

Income tax and NICs: treatment of termination payments

 

9 April 2018 – State pension rates increase

State pension rates including the single-tier and basic rate state pensions, which increase from £159.55 to £164.35 per week and from £122.30 to £125.95 per week respectively.

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