April 2023: Key dates for employers

April is the usual month for increases in a wide range of statutory rates and limits. This year is no exception but we also have the controversial abolition of the pensions “Lifetime Allowance” announced in last month’s Spring Budget.

We have published our Handy Fact Card 2023/24 which also has the details of the statutory rates and limits.

Please click here to view our online version of the Handy Fact Card. You can bookmark this version for future reference.

Increase in Statutory Rates

From 1 April 2023:

The National Living Wage (payable to workers aged 23 and over) and the National Minimum Wage increased as follows for workers:

• Aged 23 and over £10.42 an hour
• Aged 21-22 £10.18
• Aged 18-20 £7.49
• Aged 16-17 £5.28

The Apprentice rate increased to £5.28

The increase in the National Living Wage rate to £10.42 represents an increase of 9.7%.

From 2 April 2023:

• The weekly rate of statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental and parental bereavement leave pay increased to £172.48 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings if this is less than the statutory rate.

From 6 April 2023:

• For dismissals on or after this date, a “week’s pay” which is used to calculate statutory redundancy pay and the Employment Tribunal basic award increases to £643
• The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases to £105,707
• The Vento bands for injury to feelings awards are:
  • Lower band £1,100 to £11,200
  • Middle band £11,200 to £33,700
  • Upper band £33,700 to £56,200 (this can be exceeded in exceptional cases)
• The weekly rate for statutory sick pay increases to £109.40

Note that the minimum weekly earnings threshold remains at £123 per week.

It is important that employers identify those workers who reach another age threshold (and who will benefit from the NMW increases) to ensure that the correct sum is paid.

Employers will also need to inform members of staff who are about to take family leave about the increase in rates.

Finally, employers will need to be aware of the new limit on a “week’s pay” if embarking on redundancy exercises in the weeks and months ahead.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting

4 April 2023

For reporting requirements in the private and voluntary sector, the deadline for reporting and publishing was 4 April 2023.

On 27 February 2023, the Government published updated Gender pay gap reporting guidance for employers. The Guidance includes information about who needs to report, when and what to report as well as guidance on preparing the data and making the calculations. Don’t forget that once the calculations are completed the data must be reported on the gender pay gap service website as well as on the organisation’s own website.

The Guidance is very helpful and well worth looking at.

Pensions

6 April 2023

The Government’s Spring Budget on 15 March 2023 included an announcement which may result in significant changes in the risk and reward industry relating to the provision of group life assurance benefits to employees. The pensions “Lifetime Allowance” which is the cap on tax relievable lifetime pensions savings in the UK, currently, £1,073,100 (for the tax year 2022/23) will be abolished from 6 April 2023.

The Labour party has said that it will reverse this decision if elected to Government.

For more details of the announcement and its implications see our article.

Immigration

12 April 2023

On 9 March 2023, the Government published a Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules.

On 12 April 2023, the general salary threshold for “skilled workers” (those non-UK nationals who will be sponsored by a sponsoring employer) is rising from £25,600 per annum to £26,200 per annum. Going rates for individual roles as set out in the Home Office job codes will also be changing, with some going up and some down.

There will also be a change in the way that the Home Office calculates annual salaries basing these on a 37.5 hour week instead of the current, less likely 39 hours a week. It is designed to assist employers sponsoring workers on irregular work patterns. For those employees who do not work a standard 9-to-5 day, the prohibition on salary calculations for work exceeding 48 hours a week has proved to be a problem. The new rules will hopefully allow greater flexibility, allowing work rotation patterns to be aggregated to reach a salary figure.

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

19 April 2023

The purpose of the Bill is to end the status of retained EU law from 31 December 2023 unless it has been preserved before that date or the sunset provision has been triggered to extend the deadline to 23 June 2026.

Many of the UK’s key employment rights derive from EU law including rights in relation to working time, part-time workers, agency workers, fixed term employees and TUPE.

The Report Stage in the House of Lords takes place on 19 April 2023. The Lords will have a further opportunity to consider the Bill and make amendments. There is no doubt that the Bill will continue to be one of the most high-profile issues of 2023.

Upcoming EAT hearing: redundancy and the furlough scheme

20 April 2023

Mhindurwa v Lovingangels Care Ltd

Ms Mhindurwa was a care worker who was made redundant on 13 July 2020.  She had provided live-in care to a vulnerable person who subsequently moved into a care home. In May 2020, Ms Mhindurwas asked to be furloughed but was told that she could not provide live-in-care any longer because of COVID-19 restrictions and she was subsequently made redundant. Her appeal against dismissal was rejected.

The Employment Tribunal held that although redundancy was a potentially fair reason for dismissal, the dismissal was unfair for two reasons. Firstly, the appeal process was inadequate. Secondly, the availability of the furlough scheme which the employer had not utilised. As the Employment Tribunal judge stated:

“The whole purpose of the furlough scheme was to avoid lay off of employees because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing significant Government support to employers.”

The employer’s appeal to the EAT is due to be heard on 20 April 2023.

Additional Bank Holiday

In our Looking ahead to 2023 article we referred to the additional bank holiday on 8 May 2023 to mark the coronation of King Charles III.

Employers generally require a minimum amount of notice that employees are required to give when booking annual leave. It’s possible that employers may face an increased number of requests for holidays this month and they will need to ensure that they have in place a clear and consistent procedure for dealing with holiday requests. They will also need to plan well in advance for potential staffing issues.

Ongoing developments

Whilst the matters below are not relevant for April, they will continue to be high profile topics throughout 2023.

Industrial Action

Some of the recent disputes appear to be resolved but industrial action is still likely to be an ongoing feature of 2023.

On 10 January 2023, the Government published the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill the aim of which is to ensure that public services maintain a basic function and deliver minimum safety levels during industrial action. For further details see our Looking ahead to 2023 article.

The Government has identified passenger rail as a key priority for the introduction of MSLs and on 20 February 2023, it issued a consultation paper on implementing MSLs in that sector. The consultation seeks to assess the potential impact of proposals for MSLs on rail workers, rail unions, train operating companies, other employers in the rail industry, passengers and other key stakeholders. The Government is “consulting widely to consider how this legislation can best work in practice” and the consultation period ends on 15 May 2023.

Note that on 9 March 2023, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) prepared a note on the Bill to inform the Committee Stage debate in the House of Lords. It is the EHRC’s view that the Bill raises several human rights considerations, including in relation to Article 11 (Freedom of Assembly and Association) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Private Members’ Bills

In our Looking ahead to 2023 article we also referred to a number of significant Private Members’ Bills covering some key employment law topics such as carer’s leave, neonatal care and flexible working. These Bills are currently going through the Parliamentary process and we will continue to monitor their progress and keep you updated.