Employment Law and HR Update - March/April 2021
Legislative Updates during March 2021Coronavirus Job Retention (furlough) Scheme
It was expected that the Coronavirus Job Retention (furlough) Scheme would come to end on 30 April 2021, however this has now been extended to the end of September 2021, with some adjustment to funding levels from July 2021. Employees should ensure that they issue new letters to seek consent/agreement to any further periods of furlough, beyond 30 April 2021.
Legislative Updates during April 2021 Increases to Statutory Payments
- Statutory Sick Pay increases from £95.85 to £96.35 per week (from 1 April)
- Statutory Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Pay increases from £151.20 to £151.97 per week (from 4 April)
- National Minimum Wage and Living Wage increases (from 6 April):
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- Apprentice rate from £4.15 to £4.30 per hour
- 16-17 years rate from £4.55 to £4.62 per hour
- 18-20 years rate from £6.45 to £6.56 per hour
- 21-22 years rate from £8.20 to £8.36 per hour
- 23+ years rate from £8.72 to £8.91 per hour
Eligible large and medium sized employers, engaging contractors through intermediary companies will be responsible for assessing the employment status of those contractors. Under the new rules, where workers are engaged through their own companies, responsibility to apply IR35, and to pay any associated tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs), will fall to the private company, agency or other third party paying the worker’s company. These new rules were expected in April 2020 but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
HR Update
Should you introduce a compulsory Vaccination Policy?
Although there is ongoing debate about whether to make vaccinations compulsory from an employment perspective, the Government have not yet made the coronavirus vaccine compulsory therefore our current advice is to ‘encourage’ coronavirus vaccine take up through positive two-way communication and dialogue. The Government’s position may change and if so then we will confirm our advice at that stage.
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