Changes to Employment Law Rates to Take Effect in April 2022
Senior solicitor Andrea Corr of prominent Thames Valley law firm Blandy & Blandy’s Employment Law division summarizes developments that will affect both employers and employees beginning in April 2022.
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) are two different types of wages
From 1 April 2022, both the National Living Wage (those aged 23 and over) and the National Minimum Wage (for those aged 16 – 22) are to increase. The new hourly rates and increases are as follows:-
| Rate from April 2021 | Rate from April 2022 | Increase | |
| National Living Wage (NLW) for workers 23 and over |
£8.91 | £9.50 | 6.6% |
| 21-22 year old rate (NMW) | £8.36 | £9.18 | 9.8% |
| 18-20 year old rate (NMW) | £6.56 | £6.83 | 4.1% |
| 16-17 year old rate (NMW) | £4.62 | £4.81 | 4.1% |
| Apprentice rate | £4.30 | £4.81 | 11.9% |
| Accommodation offset | £8.36 | £8.70 | 4.1% |
Family Leave
On 3 April 2022, the weekly rates for statutory family leave, which includes Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), Shared Parental Pay (ShPP), and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP), will increase to £156.66 per week (from £151.97). (the first Sunday in April).
Sick Pay (Statutory)
Statutory Sick Pay is available to all eligible employees (and some workers) (SSP). The cost will increase to £99.35 per week (from £96.35) on April 6, 2022. The lower earnings limit (LEL) will be raised from £120 to £123 per week for qualifying purposes, marking the first time in two years that the LEL has been raised.
Statutory Redundancy Pay
The cap on the value of a week’s pay, which is used to calculate Statutory Redundancy Pay for employees earning above that amount, will increase to £571 per week (from £544) with effect from 6 April 20222.
The overall maximum Statutory Redundancy Pay, based on 20 years’ service at an age multiplier of 1.5, therefore increases to £17,130 (from £16,320).
Employment Tribunals
Employment Tribunal compensation rates are also set to change from 6 April 2022.
A successful Claimant’s Basic Award is calculated in the same way as Statutory Redundancy Pay (see above).
Where a Claimant is judged to have been unfairly dismissed (other than in automatic unfair dismissal cases), they are entitled to a compensatory award of a maximum of 52 actual weeks’ pay, subject to an overall cap. That capped allowance rises to £93,878 (from £89,493).