April 2022 Updates to Statutory Rate Changes

Published: March 25 2022

There are some changes to national minimum wage, statutory family related pay and sick pay, statutory redundancy pay and employment tribunals which you may need to be aware of, coming into effect early April 2022.

National Minimum Wage

The rise will come into effect on 1st April 2022.

The hourly rate of the minimum wage will 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 rate of statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental and parental bereavement pay will increase to £156.66, up from £151.97. The increase normally takes effect on the first Sunday in April, which in 2022 is 3 April.

The rate for statutory sick pay will also rise on 6 April 2022. The new rate will be £99.35, up from £96.35. For eligibility purposes we are seeing the first increase in LEL (lower earnings limit) for two years, increasing from £120 to £123.

It is up to HR to make sure that staff are receiving the new pay rates and also that any policies reflect the new pay rates where necessary.

Statutory redundancy pay

New limits come into force on 6th April 2022 as set out in the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2022.

The cap on the value of a week’s pay which is used to calculate Statutory Redundancy Pay for employees earning above that mount will increase to £571 per week up from £544.

The overall maximum Statutory Redundancy Pay, based on 20 years’ service (at an age multiplier of 1.5), increases to £17,130 up from £16,320.

HR professionals should ensure that calculations for statutory redundancy payments are made on the basis of this new maximum amount for redundancy dismissals on or after 6 April 2022.

Employment Tribunals

Compensation rates are also increasing, a successful Claimants Basic Award is calculated in the same way as Statutory Redundancy Pay as above.

The cap for unfair dismissal (other than automatic unfair dismissal) rises from a weekly cap of £89.493 to £93.878 up to a maximum of 52 actual weeks’ pay.

Further support:

For more information on the above, get in touch today via the contact form at the top of this page.

A related article from our sister company which you might find interesting…

Our team at Brachers have written an article on right to work changes which will come into effect from 6 April 2022.

Right to work checks are carried out by businesses to prevent illegal working.

As well as maintaining compliance, all employers who follow the relevant Home Office guidance, along with the relevant codes of practice, will have a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty in the event of illegal working.

Read more here.