April 2021 sees an increase in a number of rates and limits of relevance to employers, including compensation for unfair dismissal, redundancy pay, national minimum wage, statutory sick pay and statutory family leave pay.
Details of the most notable changes are below:
National Minimum Wage
From 1 April 2021, the following minimum rates of pay will apply:
- The National Living Wage, which currently applies only to workers age 25 or over, will be extended to 23 and 24 year olds for the first time:
- The National Living Wage for ages 23+ - £8.91 (up 2.2%)
- The National Minimum Wage for:
- 21 to 22-year-olds - £8.36 (up 2%)
- 18 to 20-year-olds - £6.56 (up 1.7%)
- Under-18s - £4.62 (up 1.5%)
- For apprentices - £4.30 (up 3.6%)
Weekly pay
The value of a number of employment claims, including statutory redundancy pay, are calculated by reference to an employee’s weekly pay. This weekly pay is itself subject to a cap of a prescribed amount.
From 6 April 2021, the prescribed cap on weekly pay will increase to £544. Consequently, statutory redundancy pay will increase, with the maximum payment increasing to £16,320.
Compensation for unfair dismissal
Compensation for unfair dismissal claims is split into a “basic” award and a “compensatory” award. The basic award is calculated in the same way as statutory redundancy pay and will, therefore, increase as described above.
The compensatory award is calculated by reference to the claimant’s loss of earnings, subject to a statutory cap. The cap on the compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissal claims will increase as of 6 April 2021 to £89,493 (or 52 weeks’ gross actual pay, if lower). These new figures will apply where the effective date of termination falls on or after 6 April 2021.
Statutory sick pay
From 4 April 2021 the rate at which statutory sick pay is paid will increase to £96.35 per week.
Statutory family-related leave
The prescribed rate for statutory maternity pay, adoption pay, paternity pay and shared parental pay will increase as of 4 April 2021 to £151.97 per week. The new right to statutory parental bereavement pay will also be paid at £151.97 per week.