April 2021: Key dates for employers and HR professionals

We have also published our Handy Fact Card 2021/2022, which has the details of a range of statutory rates and limits.

Increase in statutory rates and limits

1 April

Increase in National Minimum Wage  

From 1 April, there is a significant change to the scope of the National Living Wage (NLW) with a reduction in the age threshold. The NLW is payable to workers aged 23 and over rather than workers aged 25 and over as it was previously.

From 1 April, the NLW and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) increase as follows:

• For workers aged 23 and over from £8.72 to £8.91
• For workers aged 21 – 22 from £8.20 to £8.36
• For workers aged 18 – 20 from £6.45 to £6.56
• For workers aged 16 – 17 from £4.55 to £4.62
• Apprenticeship rate from £4.15 to £4.30

Employers need to identify those workers aged 23 and 24 who are to benefit from the NLW so that they can inform them of the increase in their pay and employers also need to notify their HR department or payroll services about the change. The increase in the NLW rate to £8.91 represents an increase of 2.2%. Note that the age threshold will reduce again to those aged 21 and over by 2024.

4 April

Increase in statutory rates for family leave   

Statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental leave and parental bereavement leave pay increases from £151.20 a week to £151.97 (or 90% of average weekly earnings if this is less than the statutory rate).

If HR policies on family friendly rights refer specifically to the statutory rates these will have to be updated. Members of staff who are about to take family leave need to be informed of the increase in rates.

6 April

Increase in statutory sick pay  

The weekly rate of statutory sick pay increases from £95.85 to £96.35.

Increase of limits on Employment Tribunal awards

In cases involving dismissal, the limit on a week’s pay, for calculating the basic award, increases from £538 to £544 where the effective date of termination falls on or after 6 April.

The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases from £88,519 to £89,493.

The most recently published Employment Tribunal quarterly statistics (published on 11 March) show a 25% increase in single Employment Tribunal claims received and an increase in outstanding caseload of 36%. This is almost certainly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and the significant increase in unemployment. The increase in claims is likely to continue and could be further accelerated when the furlough scheme ends. Interestingly, minutes published in February by the England and Wales Employment Tribunals national user group also revealed a continued rise in the outstanding caseload and increase in pandemic-related claims. These included claims for unfair dismissal for redundancy reasons, public interest disclosure claims for misuse of the furlough scheme and for health and safety issues such as PPE and claims for unpaid holiday especially during periods of furlough.

Don’t forget that the week’s pay limit also applies to the calculation of the statutory redundancy payment. Employers will need to be aware of the new limit if embarking on redundancy exercises in the weeks and months ahead.

For more details of other statutory rates and limits see our Handy Fact Card 2021/2022.

Increase in Vento bands

For claims presented on or after 6 April, the Vento bands for injury to feelings awards are as follows:

• Lower band of £900 to £9,100 (for less serious cases)
• Middle band of £9,100 to £27,400 (for cases that do not merit an award in the upper band)
• Upper band of £27,400 to £45,600 (for the most serious cases) and note that the most exceptional cases are capable of exceeding £45,600.

Post-employment notice pay (PENP)

6 April

There is change to the formula in relation to PENP where the employee’s pay period is expressed in months but the contractual notice period is expressed in weeks or days or where the post-employment notice period is not a whole number of months. Although HMRC has used its managerial discretion to allow this adapted formula since October 2019, it is now secured in legislation where the termination payment is received on or after 6 April 2021. The reason for the change is to remove the inconsistency and unfair outcomes to ensure that PENP does not vary according to the number of days in the monthly pay period.

In addition, the draft legislation changes the so-called “simplified formula” for employees whose contractual notice period is expressed in months, whose last pay period was a month, and whose post-employment notice period was a whole number of months. It will introduce an additional requirement that their basic pay is paid in equal monthly instalments. This appears to limit the “simplified formula” to annual salaried staff, since it will affect predominantly hourly paid employees who are paid monthly but whose pay varies depending on the length of the month – the standard formula will have to be used for them.

Gender pay gap reporting

4 April

Arguably, there is no need to mention the usual reporting deadline of 4 April because of the recently announced six months suspension of the enforcement provisions. By way of a reminder, the deadline for reporting in the private and voluntary sector is 4 April and 30 March for the public sector.

Because of the first national lockdown in March 2020, the Government decided that employers did not have to report their data for the reporting year 2019/2020.

Rather than have a second year with no obligation to report, the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced that due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, enforcement of gender pay gap reporting for 2020/2021 will not begin until 5 October 2021. Regardless of this six months suspension, employers can of course continue to collate the data and report by the deadline of 4 April if they choose. Many employers however will welcome the additional time they now have to report.

Employment webinar

22 April

If you would like to know more about developments over the next few months or are interested in catching up on recent case law developments, we are holding an Employment law webinar on 22 April. For more details of the topics we are covering and how to join please see here.

Immigration

The latest immigration statement of changes (mostly coming into force on 6 April 2021) and related Government announcements were published on 4 March 2021. The most relevant points are:

Graduate route – applications in this category will be accepted from 1 July 2021. International sponsored students will be able to apply under this route to remain in the UK for two years (or three years for doctorate students). Importantly for employers, those granted a graduate visa will be able to work in the UK freely without sponsorship.

Shortage Occupation (Skilled Worker category) – a number of planned additions to the shortage occupations list within the health and care sectors have also been announced – amongst others pharmacists, physiotherapists and senior care workers. Although skilled chefs are being removed, they continue to be eligible under the category due to the general lowering of the skills level and salary thresholds. Despite the removal of resident labour market test, the shortage occupation list is still of interest since these jobs may qualify for lower salary thresholds.

EU Settlement Scheme – is due to close to most applicants on 30 June 2021. However, a limited concession has been published. This provision will enable applicants to rely on ‘reasonable grounds for missing the deadline’. It is uncertain how this rule is going to be applied and it is never advisable to rely on discretion. All employees should be encouraged to apply in good time before the deadline and the above concession should be treated as a last resort.