We wanted to share with you some key changes that you need to know about that are coming up in April.

1)   National Minimum Wage

The national living wage for workers aged 25 and over increases to £8.72 per hour on 1 April 2020.

Other national minimum wage rates also increase on 1 April 2020, with hourly rates rising to £8.20 for workers aged 21 to 24, to £6.45 for workers aged 18 to 20 and to £4.55 for workers aged 16 or 17.

2)    Increase Statutory Family-related Pay

The weekly rate of statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay increases to £151.20 from 5 April 2020.

3)     Statutory Sick Pay

The weekly rate of statutory sick pay increases to £95.85 from 6 April 2020.

In the wake of coronavirus (Covid-19), the Government has announced that it will introduce measures requiring employers to pay statutory sick pay from the first day of an employee’s sickness, rather than after 3 waiting days.

4)    Statutory Redundancy Pay

New limits on employment statutory redundancy pay come into force on 6 April 2020.

Employers that dismiss employees for redundancy must pay those with 2 years’ service an amount based on the employee’s weekly pay, length of service and age. The weekly pay is subject to a maximum amount. This amount is £538 from 6 April 2020.

5)     Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay

The Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act 2018 will come into force on 6 April 2020.

It will give all employed parents the right to 2 weeks' leave if they lose a child under the age of 18, or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy.  Parents will also be able to claim pay for this period, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

6)    Changes to written statements of employment particulars

At present, employers have to provide a written statement setting out the basic terms of employment to all employees whose employment lasts for one month or more, and this must be provided within 2 months of the start of their employment.

From 6 April 2020, the new legislation requires that this statement must be given by day 1 of their employment.  Also, the right to a written statement of particulars has been extended to include workers as well as employees. In addition to who the statements need to be given to and when, the legislation also requires additional information to be given, including:

• The days of the week the employee is expected to work
• Whether days or hours are variable and if so, the basis on which they will be determined
• All benefits provided by the employer
• Probationary period details including conditions for passing and duration
• Details of training entitlement, mandatory training etc. (including mandatory training which is not funded by the employer)

There are 3 important changes to agency workers' rights which will apply from 6 April 2020:

• All agency workers, after 12 weeks, will be entitled to the same rate of pay as their permanent counterparts.
• All agency workers will be entitled to a key information document that more clearly sets out their employment relationships and terms and conditions with their agency.
• Agency workers who are considered to be employees will be protected from unfair dismissal or suffering a detriment if the reasons are related to asserting rights associated with The Agency Worker Regulations.

From 6 April 2020, there will be a reduction in the percentage of employees required to make a valid request for an agreement on the sharing of information and consultation within the workplace. Currently it is at least 10% of the workforce who must put in a request before an employer is obliged to take steps to comply with this right. This percentage will be reduced to 2%. The requirement that at least 15 employees make the request will remain.

9)  Changes to Holiday Pay Calculations

From 6 April 2020, the reference period to calculate a 'week's pay' for holiday pay purposes will be extended from the previous 12 weeks of work to the previous 52 weeks.

We hope that you have found this information useful.  For further details, please call us on 07951 356700.