Courtesy of the Jones Chase team, here is a handy breakdown of the updates to various employment rates and figures implemented in April 2022.
You will see that the statutory cap on the compensatory award figure for unfair dismissal cases is getting closer to £100,000 and notably, there will also be an upshift in the “Vento” bands, used for calculating injury to feelings awards in discrimination cases, which are now close to double the value of the original bands created in 2002.
1 April 2022: New rates of national minimum wage and national living wage:-o age 23 or over (NLW rate): £9.50 per hour (up from £8.91);
- age 21 to 22: £9.18 (up from £8.36);
- age 18 to 20: £6.83 (up from £6.56);
- age 16 to 17: £4.81 (up from £4.62);
- apprentice rate: £4.81 (up from £4.30);
- accommodation offset rate £8.70 (up from £8.30 per week).
6 April 2022: Annual increase in compensation limits for the Employment Tribunal for dismissals after 6 April 2022 are:
- a week’s pay (basic award / redundancy payment) – £571 (from £544)
- maximum compensatory award – £93,878 (from £89,493)
6 April 2022: Increases to the Vento bands, used to calculate injury to feelings awards in discrimination cases, as follows:
- a lower band of £990 to £9,900 (less serious cases);
- a middle band of £9,900 to £29,600 (cases that do not merit an award in the upper band);
- an upper band of £29,600 to £49,300 (the most serious cases)
- more than £49,300 – reserved for the most exceptional cases.
11 April 2022: The Department for Work and Pensions published proposed increases to a number of statutory benefit payments on 26 November 2021 which, subject to an order being made, are expected to come into effect on 11 April 2022:-
- The weekly rate of statutory sick pay (SSP) will be £99.35 (up from £96.35);
- The weekly rate of statutory maternity pay (SMP) and maternity allowance (MA) will be £156.66 (up from £151.97);
- The weekly rate of statutory paternity pay (SPP) will be £156.66 (up from £151.97);
- The weekly rate of statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) will be £156.66 (up from £151.97); and
- The weekly rate of statutory adoption pay (SAP) will be £156.66 (up from £151.97).
Jones Chase is a specialist employment law firm with an excellent track record of looking after those that we assist.
Feel free to contact us should you require further information or need any assistance with any of the matters described in this bulletin. We are always happy to speak to people and point them in the right direction. Tel:- 0203 837 9914 / Email:- info@joneschase.com