It’s that time of year again when the government decides on and publishes its plans for any increased pay rates for the next financial year. With this in mind, it is worth noting the Department for Work and Pensions’ recent announcement of the relevant rates for 2021/2022.

What’s changing?

With effect from April 2021, we are now expecting the following (rather modest) changes:

• Statutory sick pay (SSP) will increase from £95.85 to £96.35 per week

• The standard ‘flat rate’ for statutory maternity pay (SMP) will increase from £151.20 to £151.97 per week

• Statutory paternity pay, statutory shared parental pay and statutory adoption pay will increase from £151.20 to £151.97 per week.

These increases are expected to be formally confirmed in the not-too-distant future. We’ll let you know if anything changes.

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