Employment laws get reviewed twice a year. To save you from trawling the internet trying to find out what's different, we thought we'd give you a hand. Here's the main changes and how they will affect your business.
Two important changes to the rules on payslips came into force on 6 April 2019. The changes cover payslips for pay periods that begin on or after this date.
The statutory right to receive an itemised payslip is extended to all workers - this means that your zero hours / casual workers also need to receive an itemised payslip and not just your employees.
Payslips must now include additional information for workers whose pay varies depending on the number of hours they have worked. Where a worker’s pay varies by reference to time worked, the payslip must set out the number of hours paid for on this variable basis but other hours do not need to be shown. For example, where a worker has a fixed salary each month and works variable overtime with additional pay at an hourly rate, only the hours of overtime need to be shown. The hours can be shown as a single total or they can be broken down into separate figures for different types of work or different rates of pay.
The National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and over has increased to £8.21 per hour with effect from 1 April 2019.
The National Minimum Wage for workers aged 21-24 has increased to £7.70 and for workers aged 18 to 20 to £6.15. For those workers under 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age, the rate has increased to £4.20.
It is a criminal offence to not pay a worker the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. We can't stress enough how important it is that employers keep adequate records of all payments so they can show that they have complied with the National Minimum Wage rules.
The weekly rate of statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay increases to £148.68 for pay with effect from 7 April 2019.
The weekly rate of statutory sick pay increases to £94.25 from 6 April 2019.
Take the time to review your policies and documents that mention the rates such as their maternity policies and sickness absence procedures.
Employers that dismiss employees for redundancy must pay those with two or more years’ service an amount based on their weekly pay, length of service and age. The weekly amount is subject to a cap of £525.00 with effect from 6 April 2019.
From 6 April 2019, for eligible jobholders from age 22 up to the state pension age, the new thresholds and contributions will be:
• Earnings trigger: £10,000.00
• Lower qualifying earnings: £6,136.00
• Upper qualifying earnings: £50,000
• Minimum employer contributions: 3%
• Minimum employee contribution: 5%
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