We know that running your business is a 24/7 job, and with the ever-evolving nature of HR, it’s easy to see how employment law updates and changes can be overlooked.
New changes tend to come in every April, so it’s important not to get caught short when it comes to legal compliance for payments like minimum wage, holiday pay and family friendly payments.
Changes for April 2022
Minimum wage and other statutory rate increases
Following the government’s confirmation that minimum wage rates will increase from April 2022, the updated rates are:
National Living Wage (23+) £8.91 £9.50
21-22 Year Old Rate £8.36 £9.18
18-20 Year Old Rate £6.56 £6.83
16-17 Year Old Rate £4.62 £4.81
Apprentice Rate £4.30 £4.81
Accommodation Offset £8.36 £8.70
Family friendly payments
Leave rates for family friendly payments are also due to change. Going from £151.97 to £156.66 per week are:
Maternity pay
Paternity pay
Adoption pay
Shared parental pay and
Parental bereavement leave.
Statutory sick pay
SSP is also changing from £96.35 per week to £99.35 per week.
The lower earnings limit used to calculate entitlement to family leave and sick pay will rise to £123 per week.
Gender pay gap reporting
For companies with 250+ staff members, there’s an obligation to publish annual gender pay gap reports (this came in in 2018).
In the report, differences in the average earnings between men and women in your company should be outlined.
You will need to take a snapshot of your company’s pay data on a specific date in order to provide this.
For example, in 2022 this ‘snapshot date’ will be 30 March 2021 for companies in the public sector. In the private sector, 5 April 2020 will be the snapshot date.
Reporting deadlines
2022 reporting deadlines:
- 30thMarch 2022 – public sector employers
- 4thApril 2022 – private sector employers and voluntary organisations.
COVID-related changes
From the 1st April, the current guidance on voluntary COVID-status certification in domestic settings will be removed.
Also, the government will no longer recommend that venues use the NHS COVID Pass.
Other changes to be aware of
2022 sees a number of changes set to come in with dates TBC, including:
- Flexible working – the government is considering the option to allow employees to request flexible working from day one of employment following a consultation (influenced by the pandemic wfh arrangements)
- Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting – steps towards standardising this type of report
- Data protection – the ICO is issuing updated employment practice guidance on data this year
- Sexual harassment – A new duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace
- Right-to-work checks – The pandemic resulted in a digitised scheme, which was met with positive feedback. Consequently, this is being made permanent
- Modern Slavery – Modern Slavery Act reforms are expected towards the latter end of 2022. Your anti-slavery statements may need updating following this change.
Contact us today at [email protected] to obtain your FREE statutory rates guide for 2022 (it would look lovely in your office!) and read our previous article here
