Senior solicitor Andrea Corr, in law firm Blandy & Blandy’s Employment Law team, summarises changes coming into effect from April 2023 that will affect both employers and employees.
National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage
From 1 April 2023, both the National Living Wage (those aged 23 and over) and the National Minimum Wage (for those aged 16 – 22) are to increase. The new hourly rates and increases are as follows:-
| Rate from April 2021 | Rate from April 2022 | Increase | |
| National Living Wage (NLW) for workers 23 and over |
£9.50 | £10.42 | 9.7% |
| 21-22 year old rate (NMW) | £9.18 | £10.18 | 10.9% |
| 18-20 year old rate (NMW) | £6.83 | £7.49 | 9.7% |
| 16-17 year old rate (NMW) | £4.81 | £5.28 | 9.7% |
| Apprentice rate | £4.81 | £5.28 | 9.7% |
| Accommodation offset | £8.70 | £9.10 | 4.6% |
Family Leave
For statutory family leave, which encompasses Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) the weekly rates will increase to £172.48 per week (from £156.66). This usually happens from the first Sunday in April, which this year would be 2 April 2023.
Statutory Sick Pay
All eligible employees (and some workers) are entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). From 6 April 2022, the rate will increase to £109.40 per week (from £99.35). For eligibility purposes, the lower earnings limit (LEL) remains at £123 per week.
Statutory Redundancy Pay
The cap on the value of a week’s pay, which is used to calculate Statutory Redundancy Pay for employees earning above that amount, is expected to increase to £643 (from £571 per week) with effect from 6 April 2022.
The overall maximum Statutory Redundancy Pay, based on 20 years’ service at an age multiplier of 1.5, will therefore increase to £19,290 (from £17,130).
Employment Tribunals
Employment Tribunal compensation rates are also set to change from 6 April 2023.
A successful Claimant’s Basic Award is calculated in the same way as Statutory Redundancy Pay (see above).
Where a Claimant is judged to have been unfairly dismissed (other than in automatic unfair dismissal cases), they are entitled to a compensatory award of a maximum of 52 actual weeks’ pay, subject to an overall cap. That capped allowance rises to £105,707 (from £93,8678).
For further information or legal advice, please visit www.blandy.co.uk.