Employment Law Update - Increases to statutory amounts

As the 1^st April is approaching I thought it would be helpful to summarise increases in statutory amounts employers need to be aware of.

The national minimum wage rates will increase from 1 April 2023 as follows:

National living wage (workers aged 23 and over): will increase from £9.50 to £10.42
Standard adult rate (workers aged 21-22): increase from £9.18 to £10.18
Development rate (workers aged 18-20): increase from £6.83 to £7.49
Young workers rate (workers aged 16 and 17 who are not apprentices): increase from £4.81 to £5.28
Apprentice rate (apprentices under 19 or aged 19 or over and in the first year of apprenticeship): increase from £4.81 to £5.28

Statutory pay will increase as follows:

Statutory maternity, adoption, shared parental, paternity and parental bereavement pay will increase from £156.66 to £172.48 per week from 2 April 2023.
Statutory sick pay will increase from £99.35 to £109.40 per week from 6 April 2023.

Increases to compensation limits

The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2023 (SI 2023/318) is set to revise compensation limits for certain tribunal awards, as well as other statutory payments, from 6 April 2023.

The new figures have been based on the retail prices index from September 2022, which increased by 12.6% from the previous year. The new figures are as follows:

The limit on a week's pay will increase from £571 to £643 (which is used for calculating various awards including statutory redundancy payments and unfair dismissal basic awards);
The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase from £93,878 to £105,707;
The minimum basic award for certain unfair dismissals (including health and safety dismissals) will increase from £6,959 to £7,836.

The new limits will apply where the effective date of an employees’ termination falls on or after 6 April 2023. Where the dismissal or relevant event falls before 6 April 2023, the old limits will still apply irrespective of the date on which compensation is awarded.

It is important to note that whilst the maximum compensatory award has increased slightly, there are still exceptions whereby there is no limit on compensation, such as in discrimination or whistleblowing cases.

The statutory guarantee pay limit is also increasing from £31 to £35 per day and is still only payable for a maximum of five days in any three-month period.

As ever, if you have any questions about this update or any other queries, please get in touch.

Have a good week!

Jo

Employment Law Update: Increases to statutory amounts

Employment Law Update:
Increases to statutory amounts