Tag Archive for: pay gap

What Are the Latest Employment Law Changes in April 2022?

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There are several employment law changes coming into force in April 2022.

National Minimum Wage Rises

From 1 April the national minimum wage will increase. You should ensure that your hourly wage rates of your employees meet the new threshold in your April salary payments.

  • Increase from £8.91 to £9.50 for workers aged 23 and over (the national living wage).
  • Increase from £8.36 to £9.18 for workers aged 21 or 22.
  • Increase from £6.56 to £6.83 for workers aged 18 to 20.
  • Increase from £4.62 to £4.81 for workers aged under 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age.
  • Increase from £4.30 to £4.81 for apprentices under 19, or over 19 and in the first year of the apprenticeship.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting

The deadline for gender pay gap reporting is 30 March for public-sector employers and 4 April for private and voluntary sector employers. You can submit your report through the GOV.UK website and you should also ensure you publish it on your organisation’s website. Read further government guidance.

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Family-Related Pay and Sick Pay

The statutory minimum rate for maternity, adoption, paternity and parental bereavement pay increases to £156.66 per week from 3 April 2022.

The statutory sick pay rate increases to £99.35 per week from 6 April 2022.

You may wish to review your policies to check that you have amended these pay rates in line with these changes.

IR35 Compliance

The grace period for enforcement of non-compliance to IR35 rules ends on 6 April 2022. Organisations should review their IR35 compliance and ensure they update their status determinations where necessary. As a reminder, employers are now responsible for determining a contractors’ employment status to assess if IR35 applies. If IR35 does apply, the employer is deemed to be their employer for tax and national insurance purposes. Find out more information on IR35.

Right to Work Checks

There has been an extension to the Home Office online right to work check process, until 30 September 2022. You can continue to use the online right to work service and make document checks remotely until this date.

British and Irish citizens, who are currently unable to evidence their right to work through the online service will be able to start using the new digital identity checking service online which is due to be introduced 6 April 2022. This new service will use Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) providers who will carry out checks on behalf of employers.

Statutory Redundancy Pay

From 6 April 2022 the weekly statutory redundancy pay for employees with two years’ service will increase to £571.

For specialist support or advice on how these changes may affect you and your employees, please get in touch with Helen Couchman in our team on 07799 901 669. 

Diversity and Inclusion – A Key Priority for 2022

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Recent statistics released by the Department for Work and Pensions show that the employment rate for disabled people was 52.7% vs 81% for non-disabled people, there has been a lack of progress made on gender pay gaps, and there is potential introduction of mandatory ethnicity pay reporting.

So it’s completely understandable that businesses will want to focus on their diversity and inclusion practices this year.

Diversity starts at the recruitment stage – yet a recent poll by the Chartered Management Institute found that just under half of managers said their organisations were actively taking steps during the recruitment process to increase the proportion of employees from diverse ethnic groups. Is this enough?

It is useful to remember that diversity and inclusion practises are not simply a tick box exercise, and that encouraging diversity in the workplace has such a positive impact on any business, including greater success, improved performance, ability to share new ideas and motivated employees!

Businesses should not underestimate the advantages that prioritising inclusivity and equality bring.

For support with improving your diversity and inclusion practices, please contact Sue Meehan Boyes on 07384 468797.