The turn of April saw a raft of important changes to employment legislation, of which business owners and HR personnel need to ensure they are aware so that they are put into action immediately.

Below we’ve highlighted the key employment law changes that have affected employers:

Increases to the national minimum wage

When it came into force: April 1^st, 2019

An increase to the national minimum wage means that workers aged 25 and over are now legally entitled to earn a minimum of £8.21 per hour. The minimum wage has also increased among all other age bands, with workers aged 21-24 entitled to £7.70 per hour, workers aged 18-20 entitled to £6.15 per hour and workers under 18 years old who are no longer of compulsory school age entitled to a minimum wage of £4.20 per hour.

Increases to statutory family-related pay and sick pay

When they came into force: April 7^th, 2019, and April 6^th, 2019

An increase to statutory family-related pay came into force on April 7^th, 2019, meaning the weekly level of statutory maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental pay is now £148.68.

Statutory sick pay has also increased to £94.25 per week, and this came into force the day before, on April 6^th, 2019.

Employers must ensure employers are paid these new correct entitlements and review all policies that mention the entitled rates, such as maternity policies and sickness absence procedures, so that the necessary adjustments can be made.

Increases to statutory redundancy pay

When it came into force: April 6^th, 2019

Changes to the limits on employment statutory redundancy pay came into force on April 6^th, 2019. Employees with two years’ service that are dismissed for redundancy are now entitled to a redundancy amount that is based on their weekly pay, length of service and age. The maximum weekly amount has been increased from £508.00 to £525.00.

An update to payslips

When it came into force: April 6^th, 2019

Payslips must now include additional information for workers pay that varies depending on the number of hours they have worked.

For example, if an employee has a fixed monthly salary but works variable overtime with additional pay at an hourly rate, the hours of overtime that were worked must be shown on their payslip.

Publishing modern slavery statements

The Government has increased its efforts to ensure large commercial organisations with a turnover of at least £36 million per year publish an annual modern slavery and human trafficking statement.

Last year, the Home Office contacted 17,000 businesses to remind them of their companies’ responsibility to publish an annual statement and warned that failing to comply would not be tolerated.

The Government recommended that statements should be published within six months of the end of the organisation’s financial year.

The Government also recommended that HR professionals within these large organisations should begin working with corporate compliance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and public relations departments when producing their latest annual statement.

Are you in need of advice regarding employment law, or keen to discuss any of the other legal services that we offer here at Fonseca Law? If so, get in touch with us today by calling 01495 303124, e-mailing enquiries@fonsecalaw.co.uk or by completing our online contact form.