April is a time of year at which we normally expect to see at least a few important changes to our employment laws. So, what do we need to catch up on from the last month?  

Here’s a quick summary of some recent developments:

• National Minimum Wage – National minimum wage rates changed on 1 April 2021, with the ‘National Living Wage’ (payable to the 23 and overs) increasing from £8.72 to £8.91. It’s also worth noting that employers must now keep records to prove their compliance with the national minimum wage for 6 years, rather than 3 years. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-national-minimum-wage-in-2021

• IR35 – With effect from 6 April 2021, the laws relating to ‘personal service companies’ (PSC) and the application of the ‘IR35’ regime have finally changed for larger private sector businesses. There is now a greater risk of tax liabilities falling on the shoulders of the ‘clients’ who purchase services from a PSC, where the person actually providing the services is deemed to be an employee.

• Other rate changes – Also from 6 April 2021, for the purposes of calculating statutory redundancy payments and ‘Basic Awards’, the cap on a week's pay has increased from £538 to £544. Furthermore, the maximum ‘Compensatory Award’, normally payable in relation to successful unfair dismissal claims, has increased from £88,519 to £89,493.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss some or all of these changes in more detail.