Ready for April 2022 – Employment update

National minimum wage rises

The rates of the national minimum wage increase on 1 April 2022. The hourly rates of the minimum wage increase from:

• £8.91 to £9.50 for workers aged 23 and over (the national living wage);
• £8.36 to £9.18 for workers aged 21 or 22;
• £6.56 to £6.83 for workers aged 18 to 20;
• £4.62 to £4.81 for workers aged under 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age; and
• £4.30 to £4.81 for apprentices under 19, or over 19 and in the first year of the apprenticeship.

Statutory family-related pay and sick pay

The weekly rates of statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental and parental bereavement pay increase to £156.66, up from £151.97. The increases take effect on 3rd April.

The weekly rate of statutory sick pay also rises on 6 April 2022. The new rate is £99.35, up from £96.35.

Review your organisation’s IR35 compliance

The extension of the IR35 rules on off-payroll working to the private sector took effect on 6 April 2021. However, HMRC stated that it would be taking a light touch to enforcement penalties during the first 12 months of the new rules, unless it had evidence of deliberate non-compliance.

Under the rules, if you as a business owner engage a contractor, the contractor is responsible for determining their employment status and assessing whether IR35 applies. If IR35 does apply, you will need to pay the individual’s fees as their employer for tax and national insurance purposes.

You should be regularly reviewing status determinations to ensure that they are still accurate.

The first anniversary is therefore a good time for you to review their IR35 compliance and update status determinations where necessary.

Right to work checks

From 6th April

• It will become mandatory for employers to conduct (free) online right to work checks on those with a biometric residence permit, a biometric residence card or a frontier work permit. Manual right to work checks carried out on or after 6 April 2022 for individuals in these categories will not be valid and will not provide employers with the “statutory excuse”.
• A new optional online right to work check system, which is separate to the online right to work check system mentioned above, will come into effect for British and Irish citizens with a valid passport (or a valid Irish passport card). Individuals will be able to verify their identity and right to work status remotely, by uploading an image of their passport using a certified Identify Service Provider. Employers will have to pay a fee for using this new system. However, as it is optional, employers can continue to carry out manual right to work checks for British and Irish citizens if they prefer.

The temporary COVID concession, which has allowed employers to check scans or photographs of right to work documents (rather than originals), is due to come to an end on 30 September 2022, after which employers must follow the right to work check process set out in updated guidance. The Home Office has extended the temporary COVID concession multiple times, so watch this space to see if there will be another extension before the end of September

Statutory redundancy pay calculations

New limits on employment statutory redundancy pay come into force on 6 April 2022.

The weekly pay is subject to a maximum amount, which will increase to £571 from 6 April 2022 (increasing from £544).

Compensatory Award for unfair dismissal

This will rise from £89,493 to £93,878

Latest news

Company that got sued for sacking an employee because they refused the vaccine wins case

According to statistics over 90% of over 12s have now received their first vaccination. Despite the majority of the UK welcoming the vaccine, there’s still a small percentage of people who have decided not to get vaccinated.

Mandatory vaccinations have been a contentious issue. And when a woman was dismissed for refusing to be vaccinated, she took her employers to an employment tribunal on the basis that her right to private and family life hadn’t been respected.

On this occasion, the employment tribunal dismissed her case and found that the company’s decision to dismiss her was proportionate, as the employer’s decision to make vaccination mandatory for staff providing close personal care to vulnerable care home residents was a reasonable management instruction.

Latest poll finds two in five working parents plan to move jobs in 2022

It also found that 62% of those who claimed to have a good work-life balance were also looking to move. Furthermore, 49% of parents who said they were highly satisfied with their life overall said they would be looking for new work. And a huge 66% of parents felt like their employers were unsympathetic to their childcare needs.

You may have heard about the Great Resignation and this is further evidence that this is a real thing business owners need to be aware of.

COVID has caused lots of stress. Especially those who have had to juggle these changes while caring for children or elderly relatives.

For those parents in your workforce that you rely upon, it may be time to look at your relationship and how you can retain them for the future.

3 ways your business can avoid The Great Resignation

It’s because there’s an abundance of available roles right now and so candidates can afford to take more risk and be choosier about what they really want from a job. They don’t necessarily need to work locally or relocate (dependant on the role) HINT: It’s not just about the salary.

So here are three ways your business can avoid losing its best people:

1.     What do people think about you?

That’s people outside of the business as well as your employees. Do you seem like a great place to work? Do you have great ethics? How well do you treat your people?

 Try an anonymous survey to get the most honest feedback. This is a great first step to be able to make the right changes. This is about your Employer Brand.

2. Listen to feedback

If your surveys suggest you need to offer more flexibility, or become more inclusive, look at the things you can do make those changes.

As well as bringing new, positive changes to the business, acting on suggestions will make your team feel more valued.

3. Support your team

Take mental health seriously and provide a safe and open environment for your team and you’ll be rewarded with a new level of loyalty from your people.

If you would like to discuss any of this in more detail and how it can or is impacting your business then drop me an email or book an appointment.