April is a key month for employment law changes and this April is no different. 6 April is “D-Day” for a number of significant changes. By way of reminder:
1 April
- National minimum wage – the National Living Wage (for workers aged 25 and over) increased from £7.20 to £7.50 and there were also changes in the other bands.
Weeks commencing after 2 April
- Cap on a week’s pay – the cap on a week’s pay (which is used in statutory redundancy pay calculations for example) increased from £479 to £489.
5 April and onwards
- Gender pay gap reporting – employers with 250 employees should have collated their relevant data on the first annual “snapshot date” yesterday. Today the work on calculations can begin! Private employers have a 12 month window (4 April 2018) before calculations must be published on the employer’s website and the relevant government website. Remember that public sector employers have a earlier snapshot date (31 March), their calculations need to be published by 30 March 2018 and every four years thereafter.
From 6 April
- Unfair dismissal compensatory award – the statutory cap increases from £78,962 to £80,541. Don’t forget that the cap will be one year of the employee’s gross salary if lower.
- Apprenticeship levy – UK employers in the public and private sectors with annual wage bills of £3 million or more have to pay their monthly levy payments;
- Immigration skills charge – employers who sponsor workers under tier 2 will have to pay £1,000 per year, or £364 if they are a small employer or a charity;
- IR35 – new rules apply to public authorities paying personal service companies or other intermediaries. The public authority will need to make tax and National Insurance deductions as appropriate;
- Salary sacrifice – relief on benefits in kind provided via salary sacrifice arrangements is being scaled back for benefits entered into from today.
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