Are You Up to Speed with the Changes to Statutory Payments for Your Employees (Updated in April 2023)?

This year’s statutory pay increases represent between a 9% and 10.1% increase from 22/23 as an effort to soften the blow of the rising costs of living on employees.

It’s the time of year that the Government updates statutory payments for employees. The updates cover a wide range of statutory rates of pay, from statutory sick pay to the national living wage for those aged over 23 years old.

What Has Changed?

From 1 April 2023 onwards:

• National Living Wage for age 23 or over – £10.42 per hour
• National Minimum Wage for age 21 to 22 – £10.18 per hour
• National Minimum Wage for age 18 to 20 – £7.49 per hour
• National Minimum Wage for under 18s – £5.28 per hour
• National Minimum Wage for Apprentices (in their first year only) – £5.28 per hour

From 2 April 2023 onwards:

• Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance – £172.48 per week
• Statutory Shared Parental Pay – £172.48 per week
• Statutory Paternity Pay – £172.48 per week
• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay – £172.48 per week

From 6 April 2023 onwards:

• Statutory Sick Pay – £109.40 per week

No Change

The minimum weekly earnings threshold has not changed, for eligibility for statutory sick pay or statutory maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental pay, which remains at £123 per week. Actions for Employers

From an employer perspective, it’s important that you are aware of these increases to ensure that your policies and practice are up to date in order to remain compliant and maintain your employer brand. In particular, we would recommend for you to review how you manage increases for younger workers. For example, if the rate of pay for a 20 year old employee in your organisation is currently £8 per hour, this is in alignment with minimum wage for their age. However, once they reach their 21st birthday they will be entitled to be paid a minimum of £10.18 per hour. You will need to ensure that you have processes in place to monitor age increases and review pay accordingly to avoid inadvertently breaching the Regulations.

Additionally, we would suggest that you review the pay of all those absent due to sickness or parental leave to ensure their pay is increased in line with the April 2023 updates.

For a discussion on how NQHR can support you to audit your current pay policies and practices in line with the statutory increases contact Kathryn Chidzey-Jones, HR Consultant in our team on 07881 092524.