April 2022 – are you ready for increases in payments?

A number of statutory payments will increase in April 2022. We have set out below the key changes that employers should be aware of.

Unfair dismissal compensation

The limits on compensation for certain tribunal awards will increase where the effective date of termination of employment falls on or after 6 April 2022. These include:

The limit on a week’s pay increases to £571 (up from £544).
The maximum basic award increases to £17,130 (up from £16,320).
The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal (statutory cap) increases to £93,878 (up from £89,493).

It is worth remembering that the statutory cap on the compensatory award does not apply where the reason for the dismissal was that the claimant:

Was carrying out health and safety activities.
Had made a protected disclosure.
Was selected for redundancy for one of the above reasons.

Mandatory awards

An employer must not make any offer to an employee to induce them to give up (or take up) union membership, or to give up union activities, services or collective bargaining. An employment tribunal must make a mandatory award where a claim is upheld. With effect from 6 April 2022, the mandatory award increases to £4,554 (up from £4,341).

An example of how the mandatory award applies in practice is set out in our separate post on the case of Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley and others here

Statutory redundancy payments

Employees with at least 2 years’ service are entitled to statutory redundancy pay (SRP) in the event of dismissal by reason of redundancy.

The calculation of SRP is affected by the limit on a week’s pay, which increases to £571. This means that the maximum SRP for dismissals with effect from 6 April 2022 increases to £17,130 (up from £16,320).

National Minimum Wage

With effect from 1 April 2022 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) will increase as follows:

NLW for those over 23 – £9.50 (up from £8.91).
NMW for those aged 21 to 22 – £9.18 (up from £8.36).
NMW for those aged 18 to 20 – £6.83 (up from £6.56).
NMW for those aged under 18 – £4.81 (up from £4.62).
Apprentice Rate – £4.81 (up from £4.30).

Other statutory payments

The following increases will also apply from 3 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 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).
The weekly rate of statutory adoption pay (SAP) will be £156.66 (up from £151.97).

16 March 2022

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